Possibility: Ulterior Motives
by Mystic83
Summary: What if Admiral Cain had ulterior motives when it came to the reassignment of Galactica’s two top pilots? What if it suddenly became clear to Starbuck and Apollo how much danger they were in? KaraLee
1. Chapter 1

This will be a series of stand-alone stories which deal with the choices that the characters on Battlestar Galactica have made throughout the first half of the second season (I'll be posting in as much of the order of the season as I can). I want to explore what would have happened/changed if things had gone differently. Some of the stories will be angst, some will be shippy, some will be funny. There will be different pairings throughout. Don't feel like you have to check out each one to understand the others. All I ask is that if it intrigues you, then give it a try. Hope you enjoy reading the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

* * *

There are pivotal moments in one's life where if you take the wrong path everything may change. Those changes may be for the good or for the bad. The possibilities are endless.

* * *

Helena Cain looked down at papers spread out in the table in front of her. These were the files that told her everything she needed to know. These were Adama's men.

"I want these two," she said, pushing two of the fattest folders towards the man on the other side of the table.

Colonel Jack Fisk swallowed before reaching out to take the files. He followed Admiral Cain without question but only because he had this insane desire to keep himself alive. Whichever people she had selected to come to Pegasus, he felt sorry for their souls. "Captain Lee Adama?" he exclaimed upon reading the first name. "But isn't that the Commander's own son?"

Cain nodded. "That's why Adama will not fight my decision. His son should never have been under his command."

"He's Galactica's CAG, though, sir. Isn't it going to hurt the ship to have such a high profile leader taken from them?"

"You're presuming Captain Adama is good at his job, Colonel, but I'll disregard that assumption." Cain cleared her throat as she looked down at the folders still in front of her.

Fisk took a deep breath before continuing, "And Lieutenant Kara Thrace?"

"I've looked over her file. She's the type of pilot no officer would want under their command. She's disrespectful to her superiors. She's reckless in the air. She's impulsive on the ground. She has no feeling for being part of a team."

"So then why do you want her?"

Cain's lips turned up in a playful smile. "Because she's all those things and yet Adama clings to her. Kara Thrace is either one hell of a pilot or the Commander is in love with her."

"How is that your concern?" Fisk said. He knew he was taking his life in his hand by asking so many questions, but for once, all he wanted to do was understand. Something made Admiral Cain tick. There was a reason she could command so many men without one thought of dissention. He had to know why. "If the Commander is that enamored with her, he won't let her go. If it's the other way and she comes to Pegasus, the pilots are going to destroy her."

"If that was true, I would have just selected her to switch postings." Cain shook her head. "Everything I do is for a reason."

"Captain Adama?"

Cain tapped the two files. "There's something there. It doesn't spell it out for us, but trust me. Thrace and Adama are hiding something."

Fisk nodded and pulled the two files under his arm. "You're in for a fight."

"It will be worth it. Adama doesn't want to give up the control regardless of military precedent. He will get to the point where he wants to overthrow me."

A light bulb went off in the XO's head. "But he can't do it if it means hurting those two people."

"We all have a weakness, Colonel."

"If that is true, then what is yours, Admiral?"

Cain smirked at Fisk's audacity. She had a feeling this XO was going to last a lot longer than the previous one. "My abhorrence of arrogance." She pointed to the files. "Get me those two pilots, and let my crew take Adama's golden children down a notch or five."

* * *

Kara slid her curtain shut and tried to tune the world out. It was eerily quiet on this ship. There should be pilots up even if it was the middle of the night. There should be laughter over a triad hand gone wrong or screaming between partners about a landing that was a little too tight. Someone should be grumbling that this is the first second they had to sleep and why wouldn't anyone shut up. It shouldn't be this quiet.

She missed Galactica. She missed her home.

Both she and Lee argued with the Old Man for about ten seconds before realizing he was seriously going to let them be reassigned. Then they had simply saddled up and done their duty. The Commander couldn't have known Pegasus was like this though, Kara decided as she turned to face the wall.

Earlier that day, Kara had watched one of the few women pilots be called up in front of everyone in the pilots' briefing room. It was an informal meeting by the CAG, trying to keep his people informed about what was going on with the Pegasus-Galactica merger. Half the pilots weren't even there. Kara hadn't been paying that much attention. She was only there because Lee was busy flying another stupid Raptor run and he had begged her to listen to what this jackass Captain Taylor had to say.

The meeting's premise was a lie. None of the pilots cared too shits about how Galactica was going to impact them. It was clear Pegasus was top dog, and that's all they needed to know. Instead, the meeting had evolved into a test of manliness. The CAG seemed to think that this Lieutenant Grace Scott was slacking on her duties.

Kara had sat up at attention, just waiting for this Scott chick to get pissed off at the words being thrown at her. Hitting superior assholes was probably discouraged on Pegasus, too, but rules were made to be broken. No self-respecting woman would let herself be called words like cunt and whore just because she got a few landings wrong.

Kara had been about to get involved herself when Taylor reared back his fist and hit Scott with all his might. It froze Kara in place. She couldn't move, couldn't even say one word, as he proceeded to punch and kick the living shit out of the Raptor pilot.

The man sitting next to her must have noticed how shaken she was. He let out a chuckle and leaned over to explain to her. Lieutenant Scott had lost sight of her duty a few months ago back before the attacks. She had fallen in love with some insignificant crew member and forgotten what Cain was asking of her. Grace Scott had gotten pregnant and asked to be taken off rotation. She had had a miscarriage a few days later. Kara didn't have to listen to know the rest. This little meeting was conducted with the sole purpose of reminding the crew their duty was not to be taken lightly. The CAG wanted to be clear on that point. They were at war, and war didn't leave room for mistakes.

Kara pushed the tears from the corners of her eyes and sighed. She wasn't stupid. She knew that most of the crew on Pegasus was male, and it hadn't happened that way by chance, either. There was a calculated feel to the people she lived with, almost as if they had been hand selected. She could feel these men watching her everywhere she went. A woman like her attracted attention. She was the only female Viper pilot on the whole Battlestar. It was only a matter of time before she was in Lieutenant Scott's position.

She was so deep in her thought, she didn't hear someone slip past the curtain until they had their hand firmly on top of her mouth. She fought the urge to laugh. She should have been expecting this. From the gossip she heard, the boys on Pegasus thought nothing of taking something by force if they wanted it bad enough. Clearly, they were not above rape.

Too bad the idiots hadn't taken the time to realize Kara Thrace wasn't the type of girl to let that happen to her.

Kara took a deep breath in preparation to hit this guy where it hurts when she finally picked up on it. He had always smelled like sandalwood and lavender. It was such a grounded scent, all warm and effortless. Her body relaxed against him, and Kara reached up to pull his hand away. She twisted her body to face him and smirked. "Hello, Captain."

Lee smiled back at her. "I've always wanted to sneak into your bunk."

For just a moment, Kara let herself relax in his arms. Her guard had been up non-stop since they had been posted to Pegasus days earlier. She hadn't realized relief from that constant tension was so close at hand. "What are you doing here, Lee?" she mumbled into his chest.

"I heard some guys joking about what happened at the pilot briefing today. I thought you might be a little shaken up," he explained. "Plus I've been doing some thinking."

"Thinking is never a good thing for you," she pointed out.

Lee laughed loudly, and Kara jumped to hold her hand over his mouth. "Quiet, Lee. Do you want the rest of the bunkroom to hear you?"

"Actually, I do." When her face lit up in confusion, he tightened his hold on her. "I want them to know I'm sleeping with you tonight. I want them to know that I'll be sleeping with you every night from now on, too."

"This is news to me," Kara grumbled. "When did you decide you wanted to frak me?"

"I never said anything about fraking, though I probably wouldn't say no to the idea."

Kara sighed. She had a feeling she knew where this was coming from, but she would love to hear him admit to it. "All right. Enough joking, more explaining."

Lee shifted so that he lay on his back with Kara tucked in protectively at his side. "Just like Galactica, most of the people on Pegasus already think we're fraking. I figured that might not necessarily be a bad thing."

"I get what you're doing, Lee, but why are you doing it?"

Her body rose up as he took a deep breath before answering. "I'm scared for you, Kara. You're the toughest woman I've ever met, but I think this ship could break your strength if you keep trying to do fight it on your own. I refuse to lay two bunks away while someone takes advantage of the new situation and slips into your bunk to show you who's boss."

"Are you asking me if you can protect me?"

"I'm offering," he replied. "If everyone thinks that you and I are fraternizing, it might cause us trouble in the long run, but I think it will make people think twice before hassling you."

"Because you would beat them up if they mess with your girl? How sixth grade of you, Lee!"

"It's their own stupid fault that I have to ask you to do this," he pointed out. "If the people on Pegasus weren't so blind, they would realize that I'm rather protective of you regardless of whether you're keeping my bed warm or not."

She pushed away from him and sat up in the bunk. "Lee, you're not my CAG anymore. I'm not your responsibility."

Lee slid his hands behind his head. "That's why I can do this. Here on Pegasus, we're just two pilots. No one knows about our baggage." He locked eyes with her, and Kara could feel her heart skip a beat. He knew what that look did to her. "Please, Kara. I'm not above begging."

"Bastard," she muttered. The length of her body fit right back in against his, and Lee's arm came down to gather her close. "I'm only doing this because Pegasus is so damn cold."

"Got it," Lee said, trying not to grin too widely.

As the silence washed over her again, Kara was willing to admit it wasn't so eerie now that she had company. She would never truly understand why Admiral Cain had requested her transfer to a ship that didn't need her expertise, but at least she could be grateful that Cain had dragged Lee along with her.

"This feels familiar," Lee whispered.

Kara had vivid memories of every time she and Lee had had intimate contact like this, and she knew for a fact that they had never been this close before. She hadn't allowed herself to get this close. So how he could find this familiar was beyond her. "Please explain."

"You know, everyone seems to forget I had a life before I came to Galactica," he said abruptly. "I wasn't just sitting in my bunk, twiddling my thumbs, when I wasn't in the air."

It surprised Kara to realize he was right. She had never really thought about his life before he showed up on Galactica for its decommissioning. She had a home and friends here on Galactica. Why had it never occurred to her that he might have the same on Atlantia? "Would you tell me about it?" Kara asked quietly.

"Well, I was one of their better pilots, and I guess Admiral Nagala took a liking to me. I flew a little differently back then, less by the book. I don't know why, but I always felt the need to push my boundaries when I was in the air." Lee shut his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "Gods I miss being able to fly like that."

Kara didn't know what to say to that, so she just kept quiet and watch as the emotions passed over his face. She had never seen him show that much regret before.

Lee cleared his throat after a minute and continued, "I was the person to beat at the triad tables on Atlantia and it seemed like I always led the charge on the bars when we got leave on Picon."

"I don't ever remember seeing that side of you, Lee," Kara whispered.

"That's because you and I never talked when I was assigned to Atlantia."

Kara nodded. That was a regret she had always had. When Zak had died, she pulled away from everything that made her feel alive. That included Lee. She threw herself into her job on Galactica as soon as Commander Adama finished with the reassignment paperwork, and she never looked back.

"I changed when Zak died," Lee admitted. "I lost a lot of the control I worked so hard to have. You wouldn't have recognized me."

"I shouldn't have pulled away."

"You couldn't have changed anything." Lee sighed. "I think that was my first taste at what it could be like to be a pilot without being William Adama's son. I did what I wanted and didn't care who noticed. Conner always said she had never seen me happier."

"Conner?"

"Lieutenant Conner Beckings, call sign Griffin . She was my wingman…" Lee's voice trailed off. He knew he wanted to be telling Kara this, but he wasn't sure if she wanted to hear it. "…and my girlfriend."

Kara took a second to absorb the information before calmly asking, "So she was another person you lost during the attacks?"

"No. Conner died about a month before the Cylons destroyed the Colonies. There was an accident when we were on a routine escort mission for the Academy. We were flying a transport full of second year students to their practical test on the Battlestar, and I decided to show off a little. I was doing a single Aquila's Run."

"Frak, Lee. An Aquila's Run is near impossible without a partner."

"I felt like trying."

"I bet it was magnificent."

Lee shook his head. "It was stupid." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I guess Conner couldn't help but watch, though. She cracked her wing into a shipping checkpoint, and there was nothing I could do. Her ship went up in flames right in front of my eyes." He looked over to see Kara gaping at him. "I guess that's why you never noticed a change in me. Killing someone can make you think twice about taking foolish risks."

Silence hung between them exactly as Lee expected. Kara's arm slip across his stomach and her grip tightened as she tried to process what he was telling her. "I can't believe I never asked you about those two years we were apart."

"It's okay. It's not like I've been volunteering the information. In case you didn't notice, I've been a little closed off the past few months."

"I noticed," Kara said with a laugh. "You'll have to tell me more about Atlantia when there's time."

"I will." Lee let out a yawn and smiled at her sleepily. "But for now, I'm way too tired. It's time to shut up and let the Captain sleep."

"You do realize that this little charade could get interesting quite fast," Kara whispered.

"I've thought about that. I don't think it's anything you and I can't handle."

"You say that now, but it's going to get to the point where they're going to demand proof." Kara blew her hair out of her face as she smiled up at him. "I'm not so sure you can handle _that_."

"Shut up and go to sleep, Lieutenant. I still outrank you so consider it an order."

She gave him a mocking salute before dropping her head back onto the pillow beside his. She still missed Galactica, but it was nice to know a little bit of home had come with her.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara had been haunted by her dreams since she was a little girl. She found it ironic that the time she spent in her bunk was now the highlight of her day. It was the only time she could breath free and know that she didn't have to protect herself. She had been right about being the only female Viper pilot. It seemed like every person on Pegasus was determined to prove she was as worthless as her mother always claimed. It should be infuriating, but for some reason, she felt calm for the first time in years.

She hadn't had a nightmare in over a week.

Ever since the first morning Lee slid out of her bed in front of the full bunkroom, people had stopped threatening her in that sick, physically sexual way. It didn't hurt that each time someone on Pegasus got the nerve to hit on her, Kara subtly let them know Lee's call sign has nothing to do with his flying prowess and a hell of lot to do with his bedroom manner. She stopped using that comeback as soon as she realized some of the people she served with actually got excited by the prospect of a god in their bed.

Kara was smiling over that thought when the bunkroom hatch burst open. Her lips tightened to hold in the curse as she continued to riffle through her locker. She had been enjoying her few minutes of 'me time', and she was not happy to be interrupted. Not to mention, she still couldn't figure out what she did with her sweats. If those damn Pegasus frakheads stole them, she was going to be livid.

Whoever it was, they were lingering in the hatchway. At least that's what it looked like out of the corner of her eye. The problem was, in Kara's experience, no one ever paused in an open hatch unless there was something he wanted from her.

Someone was obviously intending to catch her by herself, and if she was going to be honest, she was too scared to look and see who it was. Things had been looking up lately. She didn't want to get bogged down by paranoia.

Her hands closed around the balled-up sweats at the back of her locker, and she decided not to put this off any longer. If someone wanted to mess with her, she would just have to show them her bite was just as big as her bark.

Kara turned slowly to see her new favorite person bracing himself against the hatchway as he struggled to regain his breath. He looked like he had just run the Caprica Marathon. "Lee?" she said. The sweats fell from her hand.. "What the hell is going on?"

Lee slid the hatch shut and quickly pulled his tanks over his head. His eyes never left hers as the tanks fell in a puddle on the ground. Kara's eyes widened as he strode toward her with a purpose in his step. "Lee?" she choked out through her shock.

He gave her a wicked smile before grabbing the hems of her tanks and ripping them over her head. Kara's hands instinctively came up to cover her bare breasts. Lee had seen her naked many times in this shower, but this was already feeling a lot more intimate than a chance encounter in the head. "What the frak are you doing?" she hissed.

Lee grabbed her arms roughly and pulled her to him. "Don't ask questions," he snarled.

His words caused a familiar ache of desire deep inside her to flare, and she suddenly felt ill. This was Lee in front of her. Granted they were both halfway to naked right now, but this was _Lee_.

Kara would have punched him in the face for his presumption if only he hadn't chosen that moment to crush his lips with hers. Her heart dropped out as her hands fell to her side. Lee backed her up a few steps until her shoulders touched the cold metal of the bunks. She shivered and felt his hands reach around her back to envelop her.

"Make this convincing for me, Kara," Lee growled against her mouth.

Kara wanted to laugh. She felt like her knees were about to give out and he wanted her to make this convincing?

Lee bit back a moan as Kara responded to his demand with an enthusiasm he had thought long gone. She pushed off the ground and wrapped her bare legs around his hips. Lee tried to focus on the extremely rational reason he had started this little encounter, but it was difficult to do when an extremely irrational voice kept reminding him Kara had just gotten out of the shower. He could still feel the wetness on her skin as her breasts pressed against his chest. It was all he could to grab her tight and hold on for the ride as their kiss fell over the edge into the dangerous territory they had always avoided.

Time slipped away for both the pilots until the hatchway burst open. "Don't you two have any respect for the frat regulations?" Captain Taylor hissed.

Lee dropped Kara to the ground and pushed her behind his back protectively. "Sorry, sir. I haven't had an off-shift in days. I had a little steam to burn off. You know how it is."

Kara flinched. If Lee wasn't careful, he was going to end up in the brig. Even she knew that taking to a superior officer like that was a no-no. Her head snapped up, though, when she heard Stinger chuckle.

"Just don't make her too sore, soldier. She has CAP in two hours." Lee gave the CAG a stiff nod and waited for the hatch to close before relaxing.

Before Kara could say a word, Lee had already bent down to grab her tanks and was holding them out for her to take. She wanted to be angry, but the picture of him standing in front of her, all embarrassed with his eyes averted, was just too damn cute. "An explanation before I remember how cheap I should feel," she playfully demanded.

"Gods, I'm sorry about that, Kara." Lee looked up as soon as he saw the shirts go over her head. "I was running through my post-flight with some of the specialists, and I overheard Hammer and Siren arguing."

"And that made you horny enough to force yourself on me?"

He gave her a quick glare before smirking, throwing up his hands, and falling back onto her bunk. "You can't blame a guy for using a situation to his advantage?"

Kara's eyes looked him over for a moment, and what she saw made her day. It seemed like she wasn't the only one affected by that kiss. After a moment, she shook her head and moved into the bunk to straddle his body. "Do you need some help getting rid of that advantage there, Captain?" Her eyes fell down to the crotch of his pants for a second before she made her move.

Lee immediately pushed her hands away from his waistband. "If you want to hear why I attacked you, you're going to have to get off me, Kara."

"Uncomfortable?" she said, arching her eyebrow as she slid to his side.

"Very much so, but only because I'm still trying to keep you safe, Thrace." Lee shut his eyes for a moment to try to wrangle up some semblance of control before continuing, "Hammer and Siren were arguing about whether or not you and I were actually involved. They mentioned something about you seeming pretty damn uptight for a girl who was getting frakked on a regular basis."

"So you decided to bust in here like a bat out of hell and give them some kind of proof?"

"Captain Taylor got involved. Hammer asked him if he was going to take his privilege as CAG to taste the new meat."

Kara's face filled with disgust. "Gross. I thought that archaic tradition had ended."

"I guess it hasn't on Pegasus. Taylor laughed and told them he was starting to think he might. To make a long story short, their little argument had a rather appalling conclusion. Taylor was going to come figure out firsthand if you and I have been fraking, and I don't think he was going to get his answer just by asking you."

"Oh gods," Kara said, her eyes widening in horror.

Lee could see the fear start to engulf her again, and he pulled her down to him without hesitation. "Don't go to that place, Kara. Stay here with me." She relaxed against him, and Lee let out a small chuckle. "Besides I didn't get a thank you for what I did even if it was a tad abrupt."

"You certainly gave me a rush," she joked.

"Yeah, I figured that out when you latched on to me like I was a piece of candy," he shot back. Her laughter was music to his ears. It died down eventually, and for that, he couldn't help but be sad.

"Did you ever wonder if we should actually do it, Lee?" she asked quietly.

He looked over at where she was settled so neatly against him. The thought of how perfectly they fit together had hit him like a brick a few days earlier, and he found it impossible to get it out of his head now that it was staring him in the face. He watched her fingers lazily trace a pattern across his bare chest and wondered why he hadn't taken the time to retrieve his tanks while he was picking up hers.

"I mean, wouldn't it make things easier?" she continued.

Lee thought over her question. He couldn't just pretend like he had no clue what she was referring to, and he couldn't lie and say he hadn't wondered about it himself. She would pick up it immediately. "I don't know. Why?"

"We're both adults here. It would be more plausible if we didn't have to worry about being caught in a lie. You're not always going to be around to hear the ship's gossip."

Lee felt his whole body freeze up as her hands started journeying south. "You really are starved for sex, aren't you?"

"There's been so much talk about it, Lee. It makes a girl start to wonder if the rumors are true." She pulled her head up to smile at him. "I mean, could you really frak me so hard that I'd forget my own name?"

She was too much sometimes. Lee rolled his eyes and pushed his way off the bunk. He made his way across the bunk room to grab his forgotten tanks. "I thought we were supposed to be fraking, mister!" Kara's disappointed tone made him turn back to face her.

"It was a quickie, Lieutenant, and yes, you did indeed forget your name for a few seconds."

"Nice," she said, giving Lee a wink as she fell back in the bunk. She waited until the hatch closed behind him before bursting into laughter. How was it that she actually felt satisfied when Lee had barely even touched her?

"Oh, he's good," she whispered.

Kara whipped her curtain shut and left herself bask in the rare moment of happiness before it died.

* * *

Admiral Cain looked over the reports her CAG had just submitted and sighed. "Captain Taylor, why do you have Captain Adama demoted to Raptors and yet Lieutenant Thrace is flying lead on the Vipers for the CAPs you assign her to?"

"Sir, it was what you suggested."

Cain raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"You told me to give them a hard time in order to figure out if they could handle the pressure. I've got Apollo running missions well below his skill and Starbuck flying as the only female Viper pilot. I can't help it if Adama doesn't complain and Thrace somehow takes control every time she's in the air."

"So this is what the naturally do."

"They're surviving the pressure, sir," Taylor confirmed.

"Dismissed," Cain growled abruptly. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering if maybe it was time for a new CAG. Taylor could see she was teetering on the edge and gave her a sharp salute. He knew better than to stay. He did not want to be there to witness when she really got mad.

Cain grabbed the edges of the table and squeezed until it hurt. She was getting fed up of her commands resulting in a complete lack of action. She wanted Adama and Thrace cracked, and for some reason, her crew wasn't complying. They were actually going light on the two new pilots.

She was going to have to do something to change that.


	3. Chapter 3

Comfort is not an easy thing to come by.

That was the thought in Kara's head as she pushed the blankets off of her body. She had been lying in her bunk for over an hour now, but sleep wasn't a simple thing to find. At some point, she had gotten used to having that pesky son of a bitch in her bed, and now it seemed like she couldn't get a break without Lee there.

The frakker was late.

Lee was supposed to have finished whatever bitch task Cain assigned him to ages ago. Kara had checked the schedule to be sure. It wasn't that she missed him, she told herself. Things just seemed easier when he was around. Plus, he had her worried. Lee had never been late before.

Kara was just about to get out of bed to start searching for him when she heard the curtain pull back and a finger lightly traced her ankle. "About time, flyboy," she said, twisting to smile at him.

Even before her eyes met those of Hammer's, he had tightened his hold on her and wrenched her from the bunk. Her body hit the floor with an unforgiving smack, and she got the a feeling she would barely be able to move, let alone walk, in the morning.

"Looks like the Captain is a little late tonight," Hammer taunted. "Perhaps one of us could be of service until he shows up."

Kara sat up off the floor as she realized that most of her squad was present and currently watching her. "Is there a show that no one told me about?"

Another man stepped forward. "Yeah, this show's been put off for a while on account of you settling in. We're not barbarians, Thrace, but we're not saints. It's high time we figure out what Adama's been having that tastes so good."

Logan Travers. He was her wingman. Frak, she had thought he was one of the decent ones. Kara tried to push the pain away as she struggled to her feet. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, guys, but no one's tasting anything tonight."

"What are you going to do, little girl?" Hammer asked. He stepped forward so quickly she couldn't even brace herself for the impact as he backhanded her.

Kara held in her groan and glared back at him. She had taken punches that were lot worse. "You hit like a girl."

"Is that meant to piss me off?"

"No, it was a warning, but you didn't let me finish."

"I'm sorry," Hammer apologized, glancing over his shoulders to roll his eyes at his companions. "Please continue."

"You hit like a girl, Hammer, but I'm sorry to inform you I don't." She balled her fist and let loose, connecting squarely with his jaw. When Hammer looked back at her, she could see his eyes welling up with tears. "That smarts, doesn't it?"

Hammer spit out a mouthful of blood. Then a smile danced across his face. "Those fists of yours can't take on all of us."

"But won't it be fun to try?" Kara couldn't help but laugh. It was the only way to hold back the tears. She had known this day was coming, but she never thought it would be the whole squadron. A tiny voice in the back of her head whispered that she probably wouldn't make it through this one alive. A louder voice told her that she probably didn't want to.

"You misunderstand Hammer," one of the other pilots explained. "We know you're going to try, Thrace."

Hammer reached out to run a finger along her cheek. It took all of Kara's will not to shrink away from his touch. "That's the kind of girl you are, Kara."

"Do not touch me," she growled.

Hammer put his hands in the air and took a step back. "There you go again. All I was pointing out was your hands are probably going to break a lot quicker than your spirit will." He winked. "That is what's going to make this so exciting. Old wounds never really go away, do they, Starbuck?"

Kara automatically tucked her hands behind her back and gave him an inquisitive look. If he kept talking, maybe she would have time to figure out her options, and maybe if she kept goading him, he wouldn't tell her how he knew about the breaks in her hands that made her cramp up most nights.

Hammer was right on one count. She couldn't take on all of them, at least in a brawl. She was going to have to get creative. "You think I'm _not _excited at the prospect of being able to kick all of your fraking asses?"

Hammer didn't take the bait, choosing instead to leer at her. It was Taylor who stepped forward to continue the explanation of why she was bound to fail at protecting herself.

"I bet you didn't know you had such comprehensive med files on this ship. They go all the way back to childhood, Lieutenant. Yours was an extremely interesting read. My particular favorite was the reason for that rather nasty scar on your abdomen, but as you can tell, Hammer was rather taken with the state of your hands. Either way, Admiral Cain was wise to let the squadron know what a loose cannon we were getting on Pegasus."

His words were met by snickering from the rest of the squadron, and Kara felt her face go white. Her childhood and what she went through on that Cylon farm was no one's business but her own. Cain and her men had no right to dig into the past.

She tried to ignore what Taylor was implying. He obviously just wanted her to get emotional so they could move in for the kill, and that was just unacceptable. "Let's back up a moment and focus on the fact that I'm important enough to warrant a visit by the CAG," Kara joked. "I feel so honored."

"It's the CAG's privilege to _welcome_ you to the squadron."

"So I hear." Kara pulled her hands out from behind her back and cracked her knuckles. "All right. I think that's enough build-up to the main event. Which one of you won first crack at me?"

The lucky pilot moved to grab at her, and Kara shoved his face into the bunk ladder. She heard something crack and probably would have celebrated her small victory if two more men weren't already trying to grab her.

Kara had fought for her life many times growing up, but it honestly had never felt like this. Her mother had aimed hateful words at her every time she made even the slightest mistake. She had had her bones broken time and time again, and the pain got to be familiar. Nothing that was happening to her right now had anything to do with her childhood. Her mother had hurt her and caused her more pain than imaginable, but Kara had never felt violated. She wasn't as scared right now as when she was little, but still she found herself fighting for her life with the same determination.

The second man who tried to touch her ended up with a broken hand and leg before Kara threw him to the side. She took out a third pilot before the others could even react. It seemed like they weren't used to having their targets fight back.

The pilots' anger rose as they realized this wasn't going to be as easy as they thought. She could feel it in each blow they threw.

Kara heard something crack as another punch connected with the side of her head. Her vision went blurry, and Kara could feel someone's hands on her. She lashed out blindly and ended up pushed against the ladder behind her. Even as her body refused to quit, her mind wondered why she was fighting back at all. She had known from the second she started fighting them that she would lose. She couldn't hold off eleven men in peak military shape. She knew how this was going to end, and as much as it scared here, she just wanted it to be over. She had gone through a lot of pain. Dealing with the fallout was easier each time she had to do it. She just needed it to be over.

A pilot took a lucky shot at her weak knee, and Kara felt it give way. Her body hit the ground like a brick. For a second, she wondered if she would ever get up again. Then, someone's hands were hauling her to her feet.

Everything around her seemed hazy. She could feel the fists hitting her body, but she just couldn't focus. This all seemed too familiar. Her mother had always picked her up after their fights. She would stand her up and say '_You know you deserved that, Kara_'. Then she would look at her mother and nod every time. _Of course I deserved it._

"I deserve this," she whispered, finally giving up the fight. She just wanted this to end before it was too late and Lee…

"Oh gods," she moaned as Siren took the opportunity to punch her hard in the gut. She doubled over in what she guessed was pain. She wasn't really sure. Everything was blending together, and all she could do was scold herself for being so stupid. She hadn't thought about Lee. The pain of what was about to happen wouldn't disappear if Lee knew. He would blame himself for whatever they did, and she couldn't forget causing someone that much agony.

Someone grabbed Kara from behind and held her tight. She twisted her body so she could look into the eyes of the man holding her, and a strange sense of relief washed over her. "I don't want Lee to see this."

Logan looked down into the pleading eyes of his wingman, and Kara could tell she hadn't been totally wrong about him. He was lost just like the rest of them. After a moment, he gave her a small nod, "I promise. He won't even know."

Kara gave him a small smile before Hammer broke up their interlude by grabbing her wrists and twisting to slam her body down onto the table in the middle of the bunkroom.

She still struggled. It was in her blood to fight. However, there was a noticeable change. Her blows went wide, hitting dead air as the pilots easily evaded. Her heart wasn't in the fight anymore. She felt someone's hand creep up underneath her tank. Her mother's voice echoed through her head again. _You know you deserved that, Kara._

She couldn't tear her eyes from the hatchway. All that matter to her was the promise Logan had made. Her eyes welled up with tears as she saw him step away from the crowd of pilots. He was going to lock the hatch so Lee wouldn't see what was happening. He hadn't lied.

"I wouldn't do that, Travers," Taylor hissed, noticing where Kara's attention was directed. He stalked over to the hatch and pulled it back open. "We do not hide our disciplinary procedures. The point is for others to see so that we don't have to do this again."

"Unless we want to," Hammer added. Kara tried to hold back the disgust as he slid up onto the table. His legs straddled her waist, and he began unbuttoning his pants. "I'm afraid this is going to hurt, Lieutenant."

Kara shut her eyes as she felt Hammer's filthy hands untying her sweats. She tried to detach from the situation like she had been trained to do in Academy, and she was actually starting to feel hopeful that she could live through this when his scream cut through her peace.

"Get the frak off her before I kill you!" Lee tore into the room, not even hesitating a second. Rather than see it, Kara could feel his anger rip the man off of her. She pulled herself to her feet in time to see Taylor and another man dragging Lee off of Hammer. The fallen Viper pilot looked like he had been run over by a truck. She had never realized Lee was capable of destroying a man so quickly.

Kara was about to scream at Lee to calm down before he got hurt when someone barked out an order to move her to the brig until the situation was under control. Arms came around her body and picked her up from the table. Slimy hands held her from behind. Without thinking, she threw her head back and connected with her captor's face. Siren groaned but didn't loosen his grip on her.

"Get the frak off me," she hissed, flailing her whole body. Now that Lee had shown up, her mother's words had faded away. A second wind had given her a purpose again. She couldn't let them hurt Lee. He was just trying to protect her.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant," Siren whispered. She felt him lean in to sniff her hair, and a shiver ran up her spine. "You might outrank me in most matter, but I still have the authority to take you to hack when the CAG gives me an order."

"And shut the door," Taylor added, turning his attention away from Kara for the first time.

Kara kicked and scratched at Siren as he dragged her out the hatch. She could feel her nails cutting into his hands, and yet his grip did not loosen. "Lee! Let me go, you stupid mother frakker! Lee!"

Lee looked up for a moment when he heard her cries, and Kara immediately regretted screaming. Taylor took the opportunity given to him by her distraction to forcefully kick Lee in the side before punching him across the face. She saw Lee go down hard before the hatch slammed shut.

Not one person in the corridors questioned the sight of Siren dragging Kara, kicking and screaming, down three levels to the brig. They didn't even seem put off at the sight of her ripped tanks and untied sweats. This kind of thing was a common occurrence on Pegasus. Kara had to keep herself from throwing up.

The cold metal corridors burned her bare feet.


	4. Chapter 4

Kara had lost feeling in the whole bottom half of her body. Her feet were bare, her sweatpants had a large rip down the side, and the bruises on her ankles were turning black. She couldn't force herself to sit down. She knew that if she sat down, her thoughts would turn to Lee, and she just couldn't imagine what the pilots had done to him.

He was only trying to protect her.

For the hundredth time, Kara pushed the tears out of her eyes with the back of her hand and began to pace. She had known Lee for years. He was tough, maybe even more so than she was. He could handle anything. He was strong.

It was a simple mantra she just kept repeating in her head until the urge to cry fizzled out. She hoped to the gods she was right.

"Why the frak am I here?" Kara yelled to no one in particular. The brig on Pegasus was different than Galactica. There was no guard there to engage in idle conversation. There were no visitors, and there was definitely no chance of coercing someone to bring her a deck of cards. Still, there was one difference that stood out above all the others. On Pegasus, you didn't actually have to commit a crime to end up here.

A Marine had grudgingly read Kara her rights along with the charges when Siren threw her in the cell. Charges of indecent behavior unbecoming an officer of the Colonial Fleet were being brought up against her. It was ironic how she practically had her clothes ripped off her by force and it turned out it was her fault.

Kara was furious, and that satisfied her to no end. She had felt herself give up in that bunkroom, and it was something she hadn't come close to doing since she was fifteen. She had been weak once, but that chapter of her life had been left behind the day she found an escape from her mother. Her life had been going full throttle since her mother's disappearance, and she refused to let herself go backwards. She was strong now.

Her thoughts were so focused on pushing back the memory of the horrors she had endured as a child that she didn't hear the hatch unlock or the cell door slid open until two Marines were already dropping something into a pile on the floor in front of her. The abruptness of the action kept her from realizing what that pile was until the Marines were safely out in the corridor, or maybe it was she simply couldn't handle knowing it was him unless she could break down in private.

Kara threw herself down to the ground and gathered Lee into her arms. Her hands were already trembling as they closed around Lee's back. She had this silly idea that holding him close to her might heal what was broken. The tears she had been holding in for hours slid down her face.

Even as sobs shook her to the core, she felt her military training kick in. She forced herself to look over Lee's injuries, and when she did, it made her cringe. If not for the gentle movement of his chest against hers, she would have feared the pilots had taken it too far. "Lee?" she whispered quietly into his ear. Her hand moved to smooth the hair back from his face, and she ignored the wet feel of blood on her hands. "Lee, I need you to open your eyes for me."

She wasn't sure if Lee knew he was responding to her plea, but his eyes did slide slowly open after a moment. "Kara…" His voice was barely a whisper.

There was too much blood, too many bruises. Again, she found herself thinking it was too much. Biting down on her lip, she forced herself to focus on Lee's eyes. Those baby blues had pulled her back from a lot of dark places when all she wanted to do was let go. "Tell me what they did, Lee," she demanded.

"You're safe," he said softly.

As her heart tightened, her arms followed suit. "Yes, I'm safe, Lee, but you are majorly frakked up right now, mister. You need to tell me what hurts so I can fix it."

Kara saw him lick his lips as he gathered his strength. He was shifting into survival mode. The Academy had taught them the importance of having a good identification of strengths and weaknesses, no matter how much it hurt. Lee would know exactly what was wrong with him, and he would report it to her like a good soldier. He had always been textbook when it came to that.

"My head… it feels like someone ran over it with a Viper. My side aches something fierce. My head feels… sticky. I can't figure out why."

Kara nodded. It was maybe a concussion, broken ribs, nasty cut on his forehead. She could handle all that with ease except for the cut. That would need stitches, which she had no way of getting. If she was lucky, the blood would clot by itself. "Guys with scars are hot," she teased, shifting his body in between her legs as she pulled them to the wall. She needed to feel grounded if she was going to get through this.

"Kara…" Lee's voice caught in his throat, and she could feel the worry begin to filter its way back into her mind. "Something's wrong with my hands."

Kara glanced down, and it took all her might not to gasp or start swearing in anger. Lee was right. Something _was_ wrong with his hands. She did a quick visual inventory and took a deep breath before speaking, "Lee, five of your fingers are broken."

"Frak," he sighed and rested his head back against her body. "That's a lot, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's a lot." Kara took another deep breath and tried to check her emotions. She needed to be calm if she was going to get through this. She studied his hands for a moment before probing each of the breaks with her own fingers. She tried to be gentle, but she could still feel him stiffen in pain. "We both know why they did this to you. They made one mistake, though. Those breaks are clean." She nodded before placing a light kiss on the side of Lee's head. "It's going to be okay, Lee. I will not let them ground you."

"Oh gods, you're going to…" His voice trailed off.

"I'm going to reset them," she finished, hoping her voice was strong enough to reassure him. "You and I both know we're not going to get any medical attention down here in the brig for at least a few days."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

"Don't worry, Lee. You'll pass out from the pain as soon as I get to work on the first one."

"That's a real nice thought, Kara." He let out a small laugh, which Kara figured was all he could muster right now. She was about to start the painful process when Lee started coughing. Her hands tightened around his shaking body until the fit had subsided. Lee's head fell back to rest against her again, and he whispered, "I'm scared, Kara. I can't… I can't figure this out on my own. Please don't leave me."

Lee was obviously delirious because he would never let himself beg like that. It scared her as she felt the little control she had slipping away. She tightened her hold around his body, having no idea what to say. He was cradled between her legs, but she still wished there was a way she could pull him closer. She did her best to wipe the blood away from his face with one hand. His concussion might be bad, but she knew there was no way she could keep him awake. The pain was too great. She leaned her head back against the wall and started whispering stories of her time on Galactica before Lee showed up. She figured if she just kept talking, he wouldn't worry about whether she was going to leave him. Maybe he would even forget where he was for a moment. He deserved that much.

"You're really good at this," Lee whispered.

Kara could feel him begin to shake and prayed to the gods that he was not going into shock. Her mind was too preoccupied to think twice about the words coming out of her mouth. "It was my father."

Lee had known she had an atypical childhood, but Kara had never gotten into the details. It wasn't just with him either. Helo, the Commander, Sharon when she was still a human, even Zak, they all knew her early years had pretty much sucked but Kara refused to explain the exact reasons why. Sometimes she had been pushed to open up, particularly by Zak, but it never felt right. Her childhood was private. It was a burden she did not like to share with anyone. She had let those close to her know a little here and there when it was necessary, but Kara had never _wanted_ to talk about it until now. Maybe it had something to do with Lee's opening up to her a week before. Maybe it was because he was so vulnerable right now. Maybe she was just tired of keeping it hidden. Either way, she found herself talking for the first time.

"He used to hold me like this after I made my mother mad."

"I'm sure you never _made_ your mother do anything," Lee objected.

"Oh, believe it, Lee. I was a terror when I was young."

Kara could feel Lee try to shift to look at her before flinching and settling himself back down against her. "Kara, I've seen firsthand what you look like as a terror. At the worst, you made me want to slap you across the face."

"Well, my mother had the same urges, I guess." Kara sighed. "I know you want to think the best of me, but I deserved it, Lee. I wasn't the kind of child a woman dreams of having."

Lee's mind immediately pictured a little girl with blonde pigtails and skinned knees. She would be the little girl in the pink dress beating up all the boys on the playground. It was that vision he saw when he thought of having children, and he would have told her so if he wasn't sure she would completely flip out.

"Gods, that woman has you brainwashed," he whispered. "I can imagine you when you were little, the little tomboy daughter of a Fleet reject, and it breaks my heart that anyone could treat you as anything short of the little princess I'm sure you were."

"Lee, you're going to make a girl blush," she teased, running her hand through his hair lightly before resting it on his chest. His breathing was deep enough to calm some of her worries, but she could still feel him struggling.

"Don't shrug off what I said as me being the stupid, sensitive man you always criticize me for being."

"I'm not," Kara insisted even though she knew it was a lie. Lee had always made her uncomfortable when he said things like that. It was as if he was on a one-man mission to try to repair all the damage her mother had caused in her. Fortunately, she was the queen of subject changes. She just hoped Lee forgave her for what she was about to do. "You know my father taught me some other tricks to help the pain. For instance, he always loved to-"

Lee heard the dull thump before he felt his right pinkie shift back into place.

Kara immediately started apologizing even though she knew he had passed out from the pain. This was how her father had set her fingers when she made the "mistake" of having them in the doorframe when her mother wanted to leave the house. It suddenly occurred to her that she had never found out why her father knew how to set a broken bone. There hadn't been time to ask. The pain had made Kara pass out just as quickly as Lee.

She woke up in her bed, slightly cloudy from the pain, and she turned her little seven-year-old head to see the sheet music of a new lullaby waiting for her on the nightstand night stand. She wished she could give Lee a present that would mean as much to him as her father's songs meant to her. Maybe, if she was lucky, someday she could figure out what exactly that would be.

Kara tried to forget both the past and the future as she went to work properly setting all five of Lee's fingers. The pilots wanted to make it impossible for him to ever fly again, and that wasn't something she was going to let happen. She was tough as nails, and she could set broken fingers in her sleep. After all, she been fixing her own since her father left when she was ten. The breaks were clean. She could do this. More than that, she _needed_ to do this. Lee would have pain for the next few weeks, but his hands would have the sensitivity and precision required of a Viper pilot. He _would not _be grounded.

"Frak every single one of you," she growled to the absent pilots.

The fingers were swollen and she had to spend way too long feeling for the last bone in his left hand, but after two hours, the job was finished. Kara took the time to place a feather light kiss on each swollen joint and bruised knuckle. She pulled at the rip in her sweats until a large piece of the puffy material came free. That was quickly torn up into smaller pieces, and she did her best to support his fingers. The material was not easy to work with, but after a little struggle, she had created a rather dysfunctional form of mittens. It looked ugly but would do the trick of keeping his fingers relatively stable while allowing him to use what little range of motion he still had. She wished to the gods she had real medical supplies. They would have been a help, even if in the end, they didn't matter. Supplies or not, she would kill everyone on this ship before any other part of Lee was harmed because of her.

Kara eased herself down to lay out on the ground and pulled Lee in tight against her once more. She wished that they could be on the semi-comfort of the small cot in the cell, but she didn't want to jolt Lee while he was still in such an unstable condition. Her jaw tightened as she tried to push all the pain and trauma of the past few hours away. It was time to start forcing herself to be strong.

Her ears focused in on the gentle wheeze of his steady breathing, and before long, she could feel her eyes begin to droop. Something suddenly occurred to her. "Hey, Lee. We finally got the off-shift we deserved," she whispered, nuzzling in against the back of his neck. As she slipped off to sleep, she could have sworn she felt his lips turn up in a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Kara woke up slowly and felt the cold of the brig filter through her bones. She shut her eyes for a moment before turning to check on Lee. His pulse was strong, and she thanked the gods that he was all right. It had been a stupid mistake to let herself fall asleep. She was supposed to be watching over him. For all she knew, he had been drifting in and out of consciousness this whole time. He could have been crying out for her to help him, and she was just too tired to hear.

It took her by surprise when Lee pulled her against his body. She could feel his breath tickling the back of her neck as he leaned in to nuzzle her. "Sweet," he whispered.

Obviously the whole 'crying in pain for her' theory was out the window. It seemed more likely he would have been crying out in some sex-starved frenzy.

It was nice to feel him close. She felt safe again.

Kara let herself enjoy Lee's possessiveness for a moment. Then the little voice of reason in the back of her head pointed out that he probably shouldn't be using his fingers to hold her down, and she did her best to push away.

"Warm," he protested, tightening his hold on her. She felt a bandaged hand slid up beneath her shirt, and she had to bite back the urge to gasp. "Soft." The ripped material from her sweats brushed against the side of her breast. She bit down on her bottom lip as a shiver ran through her. She had to remind herself that Lee wasn't awake. He didn't realize what he was doing. Frak, he would probably start feeling the pain in a few seconds. Then he would stop. She didn't really have to say a word. His hand moved a few inches to the right, and she bit back a gasp.

"You should wake him up, Thrace," she hissed as her rationality kicked in. "He doesn't know it's you." Yet when his hand smoothed its way over her stomach, she couldn't stop him. She felt her body curl in against his before she could fight the urge. It had been so long since someone had touched her so tenderly.

As he danced teasingly around old battle scars, Kara felt the lull of sleep slowly pulling her back in. There was something soothing in having Lee's hands on that particular part of her body. It made her feel guilty about never telling him where exactly the scars had come from. He would have understood.

When his hands reached the waistband of her pants, it occurred to her she should be afraid. Only a few hours earlier, someone had had their hands on her just like Lee and she had definitely not been relaxed then. She had heard stories from the other women on Pegasus. They had warned her at every opportunity that she wouldn't leave this ship without having some sort of damage done to her. Yet she couldn't sense the scars they said would be there. It was like it had never even happened.

"Feel so good." Lee's voice was a husky whisper in her ear. His hand slipped past the her underwear, and Kara jolted awake. In the process, she happened to push against Lee's fingers with most of her weight. His cry made her wince in empathetic pain.

"Oh gods, Lee. I'm sorry," she whispered, immediately pulling the bandages off as carefully as she could. His fingers still looked fine. She hadn't damaged any of the fractures, and it actually looked like the bruising was coming in nicely. That meant she hadn't missed anything while resetting his hands. The gods must have listened when she prayed for their help. "I can't believe I let myself forget," she scolded, taking her time to gently rewrap his fingers.

As soon as she was finished, Lee pulled himself up off the ground to sit against the wall. She could still see him struggling to get his wits. He looked down at the bandages and then over at Kara and then back down again. He let out a small groan. "Tell me why it hurts so much."

She decided the pain must have made him black some things out. His mind had shut out the things he wasn't ready to deal with. "You had five broken fingers."

"Had?"

Kara shrugged and leaned next to him on the brig wall. "I fixed them."

Lee stared down at his fingers for a moment before looking over at her. "You did this?"

"Everyone has a skill." Comfortable silence hung between them for a moment before Kara asked, "How bad do they hurt?"

"All things considered? Not that bad. And I can tell you that my hands really didn't hurt at all a few minutes ago." He shut his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall, and let out a small chuckle. "They were definitely far from hurting. Sorry about that, by the way. I guess the pain threw me off a little."

"You didn't realize it was me," Kara volunteered in his defense.

Lee opened his eyes and twisted to look at her. "No, that wasn't it. I just forgot what they tried to do to you," he corrected. "I probably scared you half to death."

Kara wasn't sure how to take that. Was he trying to say he knew it was her that he was touching with the precision of a god? If he knew, then did Lee actually think his touch would be anything but welcome to her? Even after everything that happened to him, was he actually concerned only with what happened to her? And when it came to Lee, why was everything so fraking confusing all the time?

Taking a deep breath, she was happy to say there was at least one thing that wasn't confusing. "I wasn't afraid," she whispered, leaning her head to rest on his shoulder. "When it comes to you, I don't think that's even possible."

"Good." Lee let out a deep sigh. "So, I'm starving. Any chance of getting me some food?"

Kara had no idea how he could joke through the pain, but it was appreciated nonetheless. Laughing, she gave him a soft punch in the arm. "We're not on Cloud 9 here, Lee. I don't think room service is an option."

He nodded. "How long do you think they're going to keep us in here?"

"I don't know. The charges they have on me should keep me here at least a few weeks. I'm not sure what they've cooked up for you." Kara shrugged. "It could be anything from drunken disorderly to complete mutiny and insubordination. Something tells me Cain is going to want to make an example of you."

"You mean she hasn't already been doing that?"

"You do have a point." Kara sighed and pulled herself to her feet. She threw a glance over her shoulder as she went to rest her hands on the brig bars. "Do you miss her?"

Lee didn't have to ask Kara what she was referring to. "Yeah, I think I do. It's odd because she was never really my home like she was my father's. In fact, for years, I cursed her name. She's what kept him away from Zak and me. Then the end of the world happened, and I saw why you and my dad love her so much. She's not like other girls." Kara gave a small chuckle, and Lee couldn't help himself. "Kind of like another girl I know."

Kara could feel her cheeks blushed, and she wondered how the frak Lee could still make her embarrassed even after everything they've been through. She took a seat on the cot and did her best not to look at Lee. Things had been so strange between them since they got reassigned. At first, she thought it was just the new scenery of Pegasus and the fact that they really had no one to rely on except each other. She had to work through a lot of self-doubt and denial to get herself to admit the shift in their relationship would have happened even if they hadn't been reassigned. Things were different now that the Twelve Colonies were gone. Barriers that had always been there were suddenly gone.

Lee carefully picked himself off the ground and, after a slight hesitation, sat down next to Kara on the cot. She felt his shoulder brush against hers and knew he was gearing up to say something important. He always made that worried face when it was important. "It scared me to death, you know. I've never seen you give up like that."

It took Kara a minute to realize what he was talking about. She always seemed to have a haze about her when Lee was around. It kept her from focusing. The sound of his voice made her forget about being rational. She hated it.

"Why did you give up, Kara?"

She thought about lying for a second. Maybe it would be easier that way. But then the words started coming out and there was nothing she could do to stop them. "I wanted to fight, but it was just too much. You and I have been fighting to keep me safe since the second we stepped on this ship, and it's so fraking ridiculous that a woman like Admiral Cain would let this kind of thing go on. She's not a complete monster, no matter what everyone says. The world ended, and the survival of thousands of colonists was on her shoulders alone. There was no one to help. She did what she had to in order to keep her crew alive."

"Are you trying to validate what they did to you?"

She shook her head. "Things have gotten out of hand. She's just one woman."

The cell fell into silence, and Lee realized he couldn't really argue with her. The Galactica had made some hard choices after the destruction of the Twelve Colonies. _He_ had made some hard choices. He didn't agree with the blind eye Admiral Cain had for her soldiers, and he probably never could. But he was just as conflicted as Kara. He couldn't figure out what Cain's ultimate goal was, and it worried him.

He let out a long sigh. He had never been this introspective before. Maybe it was the pain talking. His fingers hurt so much that the pain was starting to numb him or maybe the broken ribs and possible concussion were clearing his head for once.

"Why is this happening to us?" Kara asked.

She sounded so small and frightened. It broke Lee's heart. "I don't know," he answered, the sadness heavy in his voice. He regretted many thing he had done since he lost his home. Innocent people had been left behind when he convinced the President to leave civilian ships during the initial attacks. Thousands had died when he fired on the _Olympic Carrier_. His pilots took a heavy hit when he lead the attack on the tylium refinery. He had angered the gods, and he knew he probably deserved whatever punishment they gave. But Kara had done nothing wrong. She didn't deserve this.

"Please tell me what happened in that bunkroom," Lee whispered.

Kara took a deep breath. She wished she had more time, but it seemed like Lee wasn't going to drop this until he got some answers. "I gave up because I'm tired of not being able to relax. Every moment of every day, I'm on guard. It's exhausting, and I don't understand why. All I know is it hurts. Cain and Taylor have personally kept me from being in the sky the way I need to be. You know I can't breathe when I'm caged in like that. It's the kind of girl I am. I was raised to want to be free. I just wanted to be free again." Kara could feel her chest tightening, and she had to force herself to look over at the man beside her for this last little bit.

"There's more to it than just wanting to be free," Lee whispered. "You don't have to be afraid to tell me, Kara."

He watched her eyes fill with tears as she gave him a brave smile. "That's what I was afraid of. Is there nothing that could happen to make you realize that I'm just a burden on you?" Kara pushed the tears away with the back of her hand. "I should be stronger than this. I hate that I have to lean on you."

Lee tried to be mindful of his hurt fingers as he put his arm around Kara and drew her in. It looked like she had been hurt by what happened after all. "I don't mind, Kara. I've told you that time and time again."

"I know that. It's just… you shouldn't have to watch over me every hour of every day. It isn't fair to you."

"Kara, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't want to." He pushed himself back against the wall and pulled her body to rest between his legs. He always took a chance when he tried to offer her physical comfort like this. She was just as likely to slug him as to appreciate the gesture. For some reason, he didn't think she would hit him this time. "You are a strong woman, but even strong women need to lean on someone every once in a while. It doesn't make you weak or any less amazing. Frankly, I feel honored that you've let me see that side of you."

Kara tucked herself into a small ball in his arms and relaxed against him with a soft sigh. He always knew exactly what to say to make everything all right. It was no wonder she trusted him so much. He refused to give up on her even when she had given up on herself.

It felt good to have him supporting her again. Those few hours when she had to be strong enough for both of them were exhausting. She had no clue how Lee had done it for so long. "Thank you for trying to protect me," she said softly. "I know you had to give up a lot."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"I was the sole reason Cain and Taylor kept you off Vipers, and we both know it."

"Flying Vipers means nothing to me compared to knowing you're safe. I was not just going to sit by and let those frakers do whatever the hell they felt like. You're too important."

He felt her shake her head against him. "Lee, it's going to happen. They're going to let us out of here at some point, and the pilots are going to try again."

Lee's grip tightened around her body, and he ignored the jolt of pain it caused. "I don't want to ever hear you say that. I don't care what it takes. That's not going to happen."

Kara kept her eyes focused on the ground until Lee's hands tilted her chin to face him. "Doesn't that hurt?" she asked. It was a safe topic, one she could talk about without being scared.

"It hurts a little, but it's worth it as long as I finally get my point across. You have been leaning on me the past few weeks, but that does not make you weak, Kara. I know that you've never thought yourself worthy of having someone care about you, even when Zak was still alive. You have to snap out of it. You are an incredible woman who doesn't deserve to sit back while bad things happen to her. You are a fighter. I don't want to ever see you give that up. You deserve to be happy."

Kara didn't answer him right away. His words were still sinking in when she twisted her body in his arms. She reached out slowly to run her fingers along the bruises on his face before settling her head into the crook of his neck. "It may sound strange, but I _am _happy," she whispered.

Lee felt her shiver against him. "Are you cold?"

She shook her head, and he heard her sniff slightly. He didn't have to look down to know the tears had finally spilled out. He figured it was about time. She had been through a lot in the past few hours, and he knew she had been trying to stay strong through the whole thing. Kara didn't like to show emotion. That was why there was always such sadness in her eyes. She had never let the pain out until now. Kara was clinging to him as if the world was ending for a second time, and just for a moment, Lee forgot they were in a tiny brig cell. His whole being was focused on the woman in his arms "I forget how small you can be," he whispered, stroking her hair lightly in an attempt to offer comfort without aggravating his injuries.

"We're not going to get out of this one, Lee." The sadness was heavy in her voice. "Cain is going to take us little by little until there's nothing left. No one will even know until it's too late. She's cut us off from our home, and there's nothing we can do to get back."

"If I have to sacrifice everything I have, I will get you to a Raptor and send you home, Kara. You can't stay here."

She shook her head. "That's a nice little dream you have there, but it won't work. I am not leaving her without you."

"Cain will let you go, Kara. She'll be pissed off, but she won't put up much of a fight to get you back. She would never do that for me. I'm the Commander's son. It's important that she let the whole Fleet know she has me in her control."

"She's just going to have to figure out another way to stick it to the Old Man." She could feel Lee stiffen against her. The idiot had one foot in the grave, and he was actually bracing himself for one of their infamous fights. She hoped he didn't think she would go easy on him just because she couldn't punch a broken man.

"Kara, would you just listen to me for a second? It would be stupid for you to stay here if you can get away. Pegasus is not the place for a woman these days. Something went wrong on this ship when the Cylons attacked. The people here have no respect for any of the females in the Fleet. If you can get out, you need to go."

"Things are just going to get worse for you without me here. We both know I'm keeping the attention away from you. Without me here, you'll be their focus."

"I can handle it."

"Oh, that's right! You have five more fingers they can break."

"That's right. You think those frakers didn't want to break all my fingers?" Lee watched Kara narrow her eyes at him. It was always risky to argue with her when her protective side was out. "I wouldn't let them. They tried to kill my flying career, but they weren't strong enough. I can handle them."

"And I can't?"

"They almost got you, Kara. I can't let that happen again."

"You need to stop trying to be my knight in shining armor for two seconds and open your eyes. You need me as much as I need you. The only way we've survived living on Pegasus is because we have each other. If one of us leaves, the other goes with them." Kara threw her hand over his mouth as he went to protest. She could feel the blood from his split lip. He must have reopened the wounds as they were arguing. This had to stop before he hurt himself worse. "I am not arguing with you about this, Lee. We are a team. It's always been that way, even when we were fighting to stay apart. I'm tired of fighting it, aren't you?"

Lee nodded, and Kara lowered her fingers. He watched as she snuggled against him again, and her eyes automatically began to droop. He scolded himself for forgetting how tired she must be. He wasn't the only one who had been through a lot. "Do you want to lay down?" he quietly asked. In response, Kara pulled his arms around her torso and stretched their bodies along the length of the cot. "I meant by yourself, but okay," Lee teased.

She laughed and turned to smile at him. "There hasn't been time for me to tell you. I think you've given me a sleeping complex. I can't sleep without you anymore."

"Maybe we should get married then," Lee suggested.

"I would eat you alive," Kara pointed out as she shifted her body to face him.

"I'm calling bullshit. I think that you and I are a perfect match. I can take all your punches, and you can patch me back together when you're done. If that isn't a match made in heaven, I don't know what is. Besides, I think we'd be pretty good in the sack."

Kara gave him a wicked smile. "That's what I was talking about. I would eat you alive." Lee feigned shock, causing Kara to forget how tired she was for a moment. Truth be told, it was these wonderful moments of banter that kept her fighting for another day. "Come on! I've had your half-naked body resting next to mine for weeks now. I might be a woman, but I got needs, Adama. I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if you were all the way naked."

Kara felt Lee take a deep breath and did her best to ignore the obvious pain it took him to make that small movement. She kept forgetting just how hurt he actually was. He had always been so good at hiding pain. That was a product of a good soldier according to her mother. Kara shook her head. She did not want to be thinking about her mother right now. She should focus on Lee who was now staring at her intently. That damn serious look of his was rearing its ugly head again. "You want to get serious now, don't you?" she groaned.

Lee smiled and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you, Kara, and that's why we have to talk. We can't keep ignoring this. I came to you that night because I was scared of what the pilots would do if they thought you were available for the taking. You've been a friend to me since the day I got here, and I felt like I owed you that much."

"We've been over this before," Kara insisted. "I'm grateful."

"I wasn't finished. Something changed while I was trying to protect you. I got selfish."

She pulled back to give him an skeptical look. "How could watching over me be selfish?"

"I stopped doing it for you. I don't know what it was about being with you, Kara. All I know was I started looking forward to the time I had alone with you. I enjoyed having someone to curl up with, and the fact that it was you made it all the better."

"Are you hitting on me, Lee?" Kara joked.

He groaned softly and rolled his eyes. "You do this every time I try to tell you something important. Why are you so unwilling to let me tell you how I feel?"

Silence created an invisible barrier between them, and Kara realized Lee was waiting for an answer. He wasn't going to let this one go like she was hoping he would. It's not like she didn't want to answer him. She just wasn't sure what that answer would be. Everything was so fraking confusing these days.

The fact that she wanted to avoid this moment didn't surprise her. She had been perfecting her skills of evasion for years now. What really surprised her was the little voice in the back of her head insisting that Lee deserved an answer. It seemed like her rationality hadn't abandoned her for once. Too bad she didn't like where it was leading her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, pulling herself away from him. She sat up on the cot and looked down at her hands. They still had dried blood on them. Lee's blood, she corrected. "I'm scared."

"A few minutes ago, you said you could never be afraid of me."

"I would never be afraid that you would hurt me, Lee, but the things you say scare me to death. I'm not used to someone being so honest with me." She glanced over at him. "You have this idea of who I am, but that's not me. I'm not the strong girl you want to believe I am. People don't understand that."

"You're still lying to me," Lee protested. He pulled himself up to sit next to her with only a small wince of pain. "You're scared but not because I don't know who you really are. You're scared because for the first time in your life, someone can see through your bullshit. It scares you to death that that person is me."

Kara felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes. She had thought herself all cried out after her breakdown a few minutes earlier. Then, Lee had to go and see right through her defenses yet again. Sometimes she really hated him. Unfortunately, she happened to care for him _all_ of the time. "I didn't want us to have this conversation here."

"Well, I didn't want the first time you responded to my touch to be in a brig cell either, but I'll take what I can get."

Kara looked at him out of the corner of her eye before smirking. "That wasn't the first time." Lee's eyes widened in surprise, and she couldn't help but giggle.

Her laughter caught in her throat when Lee reached out to push a lock of hair behind her ear. She hated how the intimate little gesture made her ache to lean into his hand. She had always prided herself on being someone who didn't want that kind of thing. The few encounters she had had after Zak died had been full of plenty of fire and passion, but she had worked hard to keep the intimacy to a minimum. The only one who had even come close was Anders, but in the end, not even that could crack her resolve.

She was a guarded person by nature and by necessity. Yet as Lee's hand lingered in her hair, she knew she wouldn't stay that way. She had told the truth when she said she wasn't as strong of a person as Lee liked to think.

Kara felt his hand rest lightly on her shoulder, and she knew he was leaving the ball in her court. She hated that she was too weak to push him away. "When did you know?" she whispered with a sigh.

"Know what?"

"That this was going to happen."

Lee sighed. "Truthfully?"

"I'm just curious," she insisted.

"I've known it was a possibility since the moment Zak introduced us. It scared me half to death that first time I locked eyes with you." Lee let out a deep breath. "That was the day I realized what a lousy brother I was."

"Falling for your brother's girl sounds like something out of a bad movie," Kara pointed out.

"It's not like I was going to do anything about it. I love Zak too much to hurt him that way." Lee shifted behind her and laid back down on the cot. "The first time I knew this was _actually _going to happen was the day I showed up on Galactica for its decommissioning ceremony. You were standing there in that brig cell with that infuriating grin on your face, and it was almost like I could feel Zak laughing at me. I think he always knew what I felt for you."

Kara laid down beside him and stared up at the metal ceiling. "It was Colonial Day for me. You were petrified and made that stupid comment about my knees. I think it was the best compliment I had ever heard. Too bad things didn't stay that way."

"We really fraked things up that night," Lee agreed, "and you didn't stick around for me to apologize."

"Even if I had stayed, it would have been too hard. In case you failed to notice, we don't do apologies." Kara had always thought her friendship with Lee was a textbook example of dysfunction. Their relationship was everything you weren't supposed to do or say to a friend, and somehow they were stronger for it. She had only known Lee four years, but he was the person who really got her. Even Helo didn't understand where she was coming from half the time and he had known her since the Academy.

When there was something about her that Lee didn't understand, he had the patience and determination to bug the frak out of her until she explained. Yet he hadn't once pushed her to tell him what happened when she ran away from the Fleet. It was as if he knew how much it would hurt.

Kara sighed and turned on her side to face Lee. She respected him too much to keep hiding things that he deserved to know. "There are things I still need to tell you about when I was gone."

"I know."

"I met someone on Caprica." Lee nodded, and Kara began to feel stupid. Of course he would have heard about Anders. Helo had the biggest fraking mouth in the universe. "I promised him I would go back for him."

"And you will," Lee insisted. He turned to stare up at the ceiling before adding, "Only I'll be with you this time."

The corners of her mouth tipped up in a smile. Lee didn't know how much it meant to have him not fight her on this one, but she had a feeling that he _did_ know how much she wanted him by her side. One day, when they weren't concerned for their safety, she'd have to ask him how he did that. "I don't think we should be making plans for the future until we get out of this cell." She watched him settle into the small pillow on the cot and shut his eyes. "Are you still in a lot of pain?"

"If you don't stop asking me that question, I'm going to show you what real pain feels like," he teased, lifting his arm up to invite her in.

Kara nestled in against him and rested her hand on his chest. "I just want to be sure your hands are okay."

Lee's eyes popped open only to immediately narrow. Her voice had a certain level of sweetness to it that frankly made him worried. "I think they'll heal up just fine, Kara."

"Good. You let me know when they do." Her fingers played with his dogtags, and Lee was almost distracted enough to miss what she said next. "I've personally felt what those hands can do hurt, and I'm quite curious as to what they're capable of when they're healthy."

Lee shook his head and shut his eyes again. "Sometimes you scare me."

Kara kept grinning at him, just admiring the man beside her for a few minutes. It wasn't often that she let herself be this free. She never really had the opportunity to just be happy. Life got too crazy. Yet it was here, in the middle of the Pegasus brig, that Kara suddenly felt content. It made sense in a weird sort of way. The brig was had been her home away from home for years.

Sighing, Kara watched Lee's chest rise and fall in a gentle rhythm. The wheezing had stopped. There had never been a more satisfying sight than that, she decided. She was debating whether to say something when she felt Lee's hold on her tighten. She was lifted right off the cot and onto his body. "Stop it, Lee. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Doesn't hurt," he said sleepily. "Feels good."

"I'll give you 'feels good'," Kara purred. Lee's eyes shot open as she leaned in to brush her lips across his. When she saw he was awake, she smirked and nibbled on his bottom lip. It made her feel all warm inside to be able to touch Lee and not worry about the consequences.

Lee could feel her hands cautiously move to cradle his face, and it made him smile against her lips. It meant a lot to him to have Kara acting so gentle. He opened his mouth to her, and Kara couldn't sum up the strength to resist. Her breath caught in her throat as he lifted his head to taste her, slow and steady. She clung to his chest, too stunned at the sudden fire between them to do anything else.

Their mouths slid and pressed against one another as they moved from a soft kiss to something deep and reckless. It was the most meaningful kiss she had had in years, maybe even ever. When his hands slid to cup her behind, she moaned into his mouth. All rational thought thrown out the window, she found herself pressing against him.

A small wince of pain mixed in with the moans was the only thing that kept Kara from plummeting right over the edge. She pulled back to rest her forehead against his and struggled to find where the frak her breath had run off to. "Damnit, Lee," she growled. "Why do you always make me lose control like that?"

Lee simply smiled and pulled her down against him again. "I like it when you lose control."

"Well, I'm about to move onto the floor if you can't keep your hands off me," she growled.

Lee knew an empty threat when he heard one and probably would have argued with her some more if she hadn't chose that moment to let out a delightfully cute yawn. "My mom always said you shouldn't go to bed mad."

"Say something sweet then," Kara grumbled.

Lee thought about it for a moment before sighing. "I was pretty lost when I showed up on Galactica that day. After Conner died, I wasn't sure I was doing what the gods wanted me to do with my life. All that changed on the day of the tylium mission. I landed my Viper in the hangar bay and slid down that ladder to find you waiting for me. That was when it hit me. I still don't know the full journey the gods want me to take, but I know what my destination will be." He leaned in to place a kiss on the top of her head. "It's always been you, Kara."

"Okay. I don't think I'm mad anymore," she whispered.

Lee was starting to get the urge to make Kara lose control again when the hatch door slid open. Both of their heads popped up to see a Marine dump a tray in front of their cell. Lee looked down at the poor excuse for food before smirking at Kara. "See? I told you they wouldn't let us starve."

Kara glowered at him before pushing them both back down on the cot. She just wanted to get some sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Kara glared at the two Marines holding her arms tightly. There was a third man behind her with a gun pointed squarely into her back. She figured she could take them out in under five seconds. It wouldn't be that hard, and she wouldn't have thought twice about doing it if she wasn't so damn curious. She had been locked up with Lee in that cell for a pretty long time. She wasn't sure how long exactly. There was no mention of shift changes to the prisoners. It had to have been at least a week, maybe two. The swelling in Lee's hands had gone down considerably. She had just been checking over his injuries when the Marines marched into the brig and dragged her away, kicking and swearing.

The Marines stopped in front of a closed hatch, and Kara did her best to pretend to be confused even though she knew this is where she was being led. Nobody short of Admiral Cain herself could have torn Kara away from Lee.

The hatch slid open while the Marines were taking off her handcuffs. They shoved Kara inside, and she did her best to take in her surroundings quickly. Cain's office hadn't changed. That included the Admiral standing ominously behind her table. It really irritated Kara that there were no chairs in this place. Cain was stupid to think it would intimidate her.

"Lieutenant Thrace, I'm glad you could join me," Cain said slowly.

"Well, my schedule was pretty open, and I was bored. I wouldn't feel too honored." Kara decided she hated Cain's crisp tone, too. After all she had done to Kara, didn't this woman know enough to be scared of what was to come?

"I've brought you here to make a proposition."

Kara raised an eyebrow in interest but didn't respond.

"There was an encounter with the Cylons yesterday. The Fleet sustained some losses in key personnel." Cain cleared her throat. "Pegasus is short a CAG, Lieutenant."

Kara's eyes widened at the implications of that statement. "Are you offering me the job, Admiral?"

"You remind me of myself when I first joined the Fleet, Kara." Kara tried not to laugh at Cain's awkward attempt to make the conversation personal. "I was ambitious and hotheaded just like you. Then, my commander gave me a little bit of responsibility. It straightened me right out."

"And you think making me CAG will do the same for me?" Kara shook her head. "You really are crazy."

"Lieutenant, I would watch what you say. You are treading on awfully thin ground." Cain sent her a smile that made Kara's spine tingle. "The charges on both you and Captain Adama have been placed on the back burner due to more pressing matters I had to attend to. They have not been forgotten."

Kara narrowed her eyes. "I don't cave in to threats."

"I wouldn't expect you to." Cain pushed away from the table and moved to stand beside Kara. "This is something we could both profit from, Kara. I need a CAG, and you need leverage to keep yourself safe on this ship."

"I don't care about keeping myself safe."

Cain tilted her head to the side and stared at Kara for a moment before smiling. "That's right. My men have informed me that the only concern you seem to have is for Captain Adama."

"Apollo is an old friend."

"Oh, I think he's much more than that." Cain smiled. "You never thanked me for keeping you two together. Honestly, I expected to hear your gratitude within the first few days of being on my ship. After all, it was my decision to bring you _both_ over here."

"There is nothing about what you have done to us that warrants thanks," Kara hissed.

Cain ignored her. "You know what surprises me even more than you're not thanking me?" She waited for an answer and when Kara remained silent, she laughed. "The reports on you said you carried your guilt on your sleeve. I anticipated that guilt to kick in by now."

"What do I have to feel guilty about?"

"You, Lieutenant, are the only reason Captain Adama was reassigned." Cain had to hold back a smile of triumph when she saw Kara's face go white. "I could have cared less about Commander Adama having his own son as CAG. It was against military policy, but there are worse crimes being committed. I brought Adama's son here because I needed you. The Commander would have objected to your transfer if he hadn't been distracted by his son."

Kara shook her head. None of this made sense. Admiral Cain kept volunteering more information. This was a woman who gave away nothing for free. She was working towards some goal, and Kara had no clue what that was. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Again, Cain ignored her. "I'm willing to bargain here. If you step up as CAG, I will keep Apollo safe."

Kara tried to focus. Cain was scrambling for something here. She needed to figure out what it was before this little charade went too far. Cain wanted to ignore her? Fine. Two could play that game. "Anybody on this ship would know that Lee Adama and I are important to one another. All the pilots in my squadron know I've been breaking fraternization regs with him since we got onboard Pegasus." Kara smirked. "I will thank you for _that_. We couldn't have done it if you didn't have him demoted from being my CAG."

"You're willing to openly admit to breaking regulations?"

Kara had to hold in her pride at goading Cain into giving her the power in the conversation. "What are you going to do? Throw me in the brig?"

"I could send you to another cell," Cain pointed out.

"That's another thing. Any one of those Marines could have told you how close Lee and I had gotten in our cell. There are a hundred people on Pegasus who could have told you about Lee and I. I refuse to let you goad me into feeling guilty about his presence here if you're going to base it on information that everyone on this ship has."

"You would feel a lot better if that was true."

Kara found herself locked in a stare down with Cain. There was definitely something spooky her. "If I take this CAG position, I won't have access to Apollo."

"You could see him whenever you wanted."

Kara shook her head. "That's not good enough. I want total access to him. I want to be able to monitor his progress. I want you to stop treating him like a prisoner of war. He is a Captain in the Colonial Fleet and probably the best example of your failure at doing your job. He needs medical treatment, but I don't want it to be on Pegasus."

Cain let out an insulted laugh. "Are you asking me to send him back to Galactica?"

"If you want me as CAG so badly, that's the least you can do. You can make up some ridiculous story about how he got hurt. I'll back you up."

"You really would do anything for him."

Kara could tell by the mixture of awe and disgust in Cain's voice that the Admiral was finally getting the point. "He's in bad shape. Your pilots have pretty much guaranteed he'll never fly again. At least, he won't fly Viper. He's no use for you here."

"He's a good bargaining chip."

"He won't be for long. His condition is getting worse. If he doesn't get medical help, he's going to die. I might not have known about Taylor, but I do know your ship lost the last of its medics weeks before you stumbled upon us." Kara gave Cain the sweetest smile she could muster. "Your people have a bad habit of opening their mouths when they shouldn't, sir."

Cain stared her down for a few seconds. "You will be obedient. As CAG, you will not question my orders. You will integrate yourself into this ship and train my pilots to know every weakness Galactica has. There will be no further talk of you leaving this ship. You are here for the duration, and you will be compliant."

"You sound as if we're on the verge of civil war."

"Do we have a deal, Lieutenant?"

"You would be willing to let Captain Adama go." Cain gave her a small nod, and Kara had to ball her hands into fists to keep them under control. There was no way Cain was just going to let Lee go even if she had only transferred him so she could get her hands on Kara.

Kara wasn't sure what to do with that revelation. She stared down at the table as the options ran through her head. There was really only one thing she could do. She looked up at Cain and smiled. "Good to know. Can I be taken back to the brig now?"

Cain's bottom lip tightened as she tried to hold back her fury. "This is all a game to you."

"Guess you read me wrong. I'm more hotheaded than ambitious at this point in my life, Admiral."

Cain stared at her a moment longer before moving to open the hatch. "Escort Lieutenant Thrace back to her brig cell."

Kara moved towards the hatch, only pausing briefly to whisper, "That better be the same cell as Apollo if you don't want the Commander to kill you when I tell him what you did to his son." She held out her hands to be handcuffed again.

Cain stared at her a moment before turning back to the armed men. "Make sure it's the same cell you took her from."

Even though she had no idea how she had done it, Kara let the joy of outsmarting Cain carry her all the way back to hack. The fact that she still didn't know what Cain was hiding didn't faze her. With Lee's help, she was sure she could figure it out.

Admiral Cain stared down at the papers in front of her until her rage had subsided. It had been years since someone had gotten under her skin as much as this Lieutenant Thrace had. She had lost control of their conversation.

She had been right to say Thrace was the spitting image of herself when she was younger. There was only one small difference. Cain took opportunities when they came to her. They fueled her desire to show everyone in her past that she was not a waste of air. Cain shuddered. She couldn't imagine how horrible a past Kara Thrace had if she was too screwed-up to take the CAG promotion.

Cain bit her bottom lip in determination. She needed that stupid girl to wise up and take herself to the next level. It is only there that Kara Thrace can truly learn the meaning of failure. A woman like her, without her determination to push herself higher, would crash and burn in a position of leadership. Plus, Cain had left her whole support system lying bleeding in a brig cell.

Her eyes locked on the intelligence report that had been submitted by her men on Galactica. Adama was getting suspicious. He had lost contact with both his son and Thrace. Then there was that damn Cylon in the brig. She should never have brought that idiot Gaius Baltar onto her ship.

Cain reached up to kneed the bridge of her nose. This situation was starting to give her a headache, and when she got headaches, she tended to get reckless.


	7. Chapter 7

Lee's eye went wide as the Marines shoved Kara into the brig. She gave him a small grin before turning to thrust her wrists through the metal bars. "Uncuff me, please," she insisted.

"Kara…" Lee started.

"Not now," she hissed. The cuffs fell off, and her hands came up to unconsciously rub the raw skin on her wrists. She kept her eyes locked with the Marines until the hatch door banged shut. Then she turned to face Lee and held up her hands. "Okay. Ask away."

"What the frak happened to you?" Lee shouted. He ran over to her side just as her knee gave out.

Kara relaxed into Lee's arms, letting him support her. "Cain's people gave me a little talking to."

Lee looked her over, taking a quick inventory. Her face and hands had some fresh bruises on them. Obviously her knee was feeling weak. The bastards probably took a couple cheap shots at the old pyramid injury. Her lip was split. All in all, though, the injuries were pretty superficial. Still, that didn't mean he was not absolutely livid about Kara being hurt. "Are you all right?"

"Right as rain," she smirked before tightening her arms around him. "Could you help me to the cot?"

Lee gave her a small nod, and together they limped across the cell. Kara felt him looking her over some more, and a wave of discomfort washed over her. Even after weeks of this, she still couldn't get used to Lee wanting to protect her. Things had been very unsettling between the two of them as they settled into a familiarity Kara had never known.

Lee was watching her and knew there was something on her mind. He had a hunch he knew what it was, too. The level of intimacy that had been forced upon them by Admiral Cain and her men wasn't the type of thing Kara was used to. Lee had a feeling he only had a few more days of this until Kara started pulling away.

There were more important things right now than brainstorming ways to keep her close. She was hurting even if she would never admit it. His gaze rested on where her body lay on the cot. Like always, the sight of her made him smile. However, when he had deemed her comfortably resting, he put on his serious face. "What did you do, Kara?"

"I didn't do anything," Kara insisted.

"Kara, of course you did. You can save me a lot of grief if you would just tell me."

"Cain wanted to make me the CAG. I said no. She obviously took it hard."

Lee threw her a skeptical look. "I'm sure it was more complicated than that."

"It was," Kara admitted. "She made me an offer, and it wasn't good enough. I don't trust her farther than I can shoot her."

"I think the expression is 'farther than I can throw her'."

A childlike smile spread across her face. "No, I said it right."

Lee rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed next to her. "So she made you an offer and you turned it down in such a way that she had the Marines beat you?"

"I was my usual charming self, and I guess she took offense to that."

"That's what I was afraid of." Lee let out a soft sigh. "So, should I expect her to take it out on me, too?"

Kara's eyes popped open in horror. "Oh gods. I didn't think about that."

Lee hesitated a moment before lying down beside her. Every time he did this, he expected her to push him away. He leaned his shoulder against hers and began to stare at the ceiling. "What did Cain offer?"

"Something important." She hoped her short, crisp tone told him this was not a matter she was going to be discussing. He would be furious to know she had been negotiating a way to have him abandon her after she had given him that speech about it was either both or none. There was no way to get him to understand her reasoning. Kara knew she could survive this ship without him. After all, she had lived through a lot worse.

"Maybe you should take the deal, Kara." Lee reached over to cover her mouth before she could protest. He hated having to do this, but convincing her to take Cain's deal would mean she was safe. As the CAG, most people on Pegasus couldn't touch her. "The position of CAG could give you a certain amount of protection. It might help keep you safe."

Kara nibbled his hand lightly through the bandages, and he gave her a smile as he pulled away. "I wish I could just accept what Cain was offering, but there's a lot more to it. She was hiding something from me, Lee. There's something going down that she doesn't want us to know about."

"Did you have any idea what that could be?"

Kara shook her head and turned to lean on him. "She's a hard person to read."

"But you're the best at seeing through the bullshit," Lee insisted. "Tell me what you know, Kara."

She let out a small sigh before beginning. "There was data up on the screens in her office. It looked like schematic comparisons of Galactica to Pegasus. My guess is she's trying to determine the differences in security and location. Plus, Cain danced away from discussing relations between the two Battlestars. It really sounds like tensions are getting high."

"That's good to know."

"There's more," Kara insisted. Her head was already shaking so Lee knew things were about to get even more confusing. "There were printouts on her desk. She was trying to keep them covered while we negotiated, but I managed to soak up a bit of what they said. The rumors about a Cylon onboard are true, Lee. She was a member of the crew here until she slipped up somehow. However, even though she probably hasn't fared as well as our Sharon, I don't think Cain intends her any real harm. She wants that Cylon alive. Whatever her endgame is, it involves the prisoner."

A little voice of reason in the back of Lee's head tried to argue with the obnoxious voice in his heart. All he wanted to do was keep Kara safe, and yet it might cause the safety of the whole Fleet to do that. When it came to Kara, it always seemed like his body was at war with itself. "I think you need to take what she offered you," Lee whispered after a few seconds of silence. "If what you said is true, we need to find out more information."

"I don't like it, Lee."

"You don't like a lot of my plans. That doesn't mean they're bad." Lee leaned over to kiss just above her left eye where a small bruise was beginning to form. "You are an extremely perceptive person, Kara. Add that to the position of CAG? Cain can't hide anything from you."

"I'm too tired to say no to your stupid plan," Kara mumbled. They both knew that wasn't true. She could argue with him for hours and had done just that many times in the past. Kara was accepting his idea because she knew there was no better option. They had been effectively backed into a corner.

The sound of the hatch opening made Lee tighten his arms around Kara on instinct. "Just the daily meal," grumbled the Marine. Kara couldn't help but smile. These guys hated having to watch over the prisoners as much as Kara and Lee hated being watched.

She propped herself up and smiled at the Marine. "Hey soldier! Tell Cain I'm ready to hear her second offer."

The Marine gave her a confused look but nodded his understanding. Kara smiled again and rested her cheek on Lee's chest. "You better be right, flyboy," she mumbled.

Lee's hand came up to lightly stroke her hair. "I hope I am, too," he whispered. "I hope I am, too."

* * *

Kara tried not to wince in pain as the handcuffs cut into her wrists. There would probably be permanent scarring. "Are you going to have these taken off me, Admiral?"

Cain turned from staring at the monitors to shake her head. "I think it would be best if you stayed restrained during this encounter. I've learned the hard way that you like to do the unexpected." Kara realized with a start that Cain didn't look surprised by her appearance. That meant the Admiral knew what her Marines were going to do when they delivered Kara back to the brig.

Cain stepped away from the work station. "You wanted to speak to me, Lieutenant."

Kara had to forced herself not to glare. She had a certain amount of respect for a woman in power like Cain, but even that was wearing thin. Right now she just wanted to get this over with so she could go back to sleep. "I was unwise to turn your offer down so quickly before. I want to take the job. There are just a few things I need first."

"Oh really?"

Kara nodded and took a deep breath. She had to be strong. Cain might do something drastic if she thinks she's being made a fool of again. "You want me to be a dutiful little soldier for you. I'll agree to that, but you need to drop the charges on both Captain Adama and myself. We'll forget the past few weeks and what was done to us. Put us on active status, and I'll step right in as CAG."

Cain held her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. "I can't do that." She glanced down at something on the table before looking back up at Kara. "I can get the charges dropped for you, but it would be impossible to do anything for Captain Adama. He put five of my men in sickbay. One of them was near death."

Kara's eyes went wide. She had never thought to ask Lee what happened to the pilots who attacked her. "I didn't realize the damage was so… extensive."

Cain let out a small laugh. "And here I thought you had such faith in him."

Her wrists strained against the handcuffs as Kara fought to stay in control. "Never doubt my faith in those I love." Her words had come straight from her heart, but Kara regretted them instantly. Cain was determined to prove that Kara's feelings for Lee influenced the decision to have him transferred, and the last thing Kara wanted to do was play into that. "I've seen you forgive greater offenses than Apollo's, sir."

"In the past, I have. Those were different days with different circumstances."

"All right. Let's work with the circumstances we have then." Kara cleared her throat and did her best to stay focused. "I want to have full authority over those pilots. If I throw one of them in the brig for an offense, I will back up my decision to do so with solid fact. I don't want my authority compromised. The pilots on this ship have their dysfunctions, but I'm a girl who's learned to deal with quite a few problems in my day. I can lead them if you don't get in the way."

"Understood, Lieutenant. You will have the full power of the position just like any previous CAG." Cain's eyes shot down to her desk. "Now if you'll excuse yourself, I have a lot of work to do."

"That was only the easy part, Admiral," Kara informed her. She thought over her position and knew she had to be sure there was no other option. "You refuse to let Apollo out of the brig in any form?"

"You heard me correctly," Cain confirmed.

"Then I am going to stay in the brig. I will fly my shifts and do my turns at maintenance. Any time I am not on active duty, I will report to the brig. I will be given free reign to enter and exit Captain Adama's cell whenever I chose. All paperwork and other menial tasks will be completed there."

"You're asking me to keep you confined to the brig?"

"I'm telling you that I am going to keep _myself_ confined to the brig." Kara let out a deep breath and stepped back from the table. "That's all."

Cain looked her over for a moment before nodded. "Then we have a deal, Lieutenant. You may report back to the brig. I'll have one of your pilots bring down the flight schedules for you. You can get to work scheduling yourself in."

Kara gave a small nod before biting her lip. "I hope it's not too much to ask to have these cuffs disappear. I don't think my crew would appreciate seeing their new authority figure in chains."

"I'll have one of the Marines set you free when they've deposited you back in your preferred living quarters," Cain said shortly before riffling through the papers in front of her.

Kara took it as the Admiral's way of dismissing her. She backed away from the table, taking a quick glance around the office, and turned to step out into the corridor. "You better be right about this, Lee," she growled as two Marines came up on her sides. Still slightly confused as to how she got talked into being the CAG, she limped her way back to her new home.

* * *

Cain looked down at the papers in front of her. She had really expected Thrace to pick up on the fact that she was so preoccupied with them, but for some reason, the Viper pilot stayed quiet. Cain knew it was risky to keep such important documents out in the open, but she had been so enthralled with them. It was hard to put them away.

The transcripts of the initial Cylon interrogations were priceless to her. The woman who had posed as Petty Officer Gina Williams mentioned the human prophet whose actions will herald the final elimination of humanity. Cain had shrugged it off as the normal pagan bullshit these toasters spouted at every turn. But then she had transferred Starbuck to her ship, and Gina started talking again.

Who would have thought the Cylons' prophet would be a Viper pilot on Galactica?

Cain needed Thrace on her side if she was going to defeat the Cylons and kick their asses out of her home. Not to mention the massive amount of promise this young woman showed. She just had to convince Thrace that she was on the right side before Adama made his move. She had gone too far to turn back now.


	8. Chapter 8

The hatch shut behind her with a satisfying click. Kara's gaze immediately rested on the cot that was completely covered with paperwork. Right in the middle, caught up in the task at hand, was the man who had her doing the impossible. Kara had gotten off her shift on CAP and practically ran the whole way back to the brig. She had been doing it for weeks now like some fifteen-year-old girl with a school girl crush. It was embarrassing.

She pushed the door to the cell open. It hadn't been locked since she accepted the job as CAG. It was easier that way. "How are the flight rotations going?"

Lee looked up at her but only to give a quick smile before looking back down. "I never thought I'd miss this so much."

Kara smiled and kicked her boots off before clearing a space to sit on the cot. "I'm glad you do. Paperwork and I do not get along."

"Speaking of, how are your CAG-ly duties coming along?"

"Those frakheads have finally fallen into line," Kara laughed. "You haven't gotten anymore unscheduled visits, have you?"

Kara was pleased to see Lee shake his head. The pilots' insubordination started on the first day Cain announced Kara's promotion. A few of the pilots took time out of their off-shift to come down to the brig and talk with Lee. Kara was pretty sure Lee had been preparing himself for another fight in which he would probably break his fingers all over again when she showed up. She took stock of the situation and immediately used her authority to send the pilots to help with the overflow of downed Vipers in the hangar. The next day after the pilot briefing, she asked to speak with them alone, and long story short, each pilot ended up in sickbay to be treated for cuts and bruises. No one fraked with Lee after that.

"Any luck finding more information?" Lee said, breaking up the silence.

Kara shook her head. "I was in the air. There wasn't much to work with except pilot chatter, and all those stupid frakers could talk about was the latest game of triad."

Lee shook his head. "It's the same on every single ship."

Kara was about to agree when she noticed a small smudge of ink that had found its home on Lee's jaw. The urge to lick it off hit her from nowhere. She swore under her breath. She was always keyed up after coming off a fight with the Cylons, but it had never been this bad. A little voice in her head pointed out that working off the tension with Lee had never been an option before.

The past few weeks since she had accepted the CAG position had become unbearable. Before that time, it had just been her and Lee in their own little bubble. Now that she spent time away from him, she was starting to understand the meaning of loneliness. She missed him like crazy whenever she was in or under a Viper. In addition to the loneliness, she was also fighting some major hormonal issues. She could tell that Lee wanted to take whatever was happening between them slow, but the distractions were starting to pile up. Kara definitely had a one-track mind, and it was currently focused on relieving the tension of being around Lee as much as she could manage.

Kara rubbed her hands together and decided this was ridiculous. She was a grown woman, and grown women did not let their sex drives control their every action. Plus, Lee was still getting over his injuries. His breathing had finally returned to normal now that the ribs were healed, and the cut on his forehead had faded away into a scar that was so deliciously cute it made her want to... Kara squeezed her eyes shut. She was in deep trouble.

"You seem on edge."

Lee's voice made her eyes jolt open. Had he been watching her this whole time?

"How many were there?"

Kara turned to look at him in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"You only get this way after you've killed some Cylons. I just wanted to know how many so I can figure out how bad it's going to be."

"What way are you talking about?"

Lee let out a gentle sigh before setting down his pen. "You look like you're about to rip my clothes off, Kara."

Her face went beet red. "Oh."

"You thought I never noticed the way you always seemed to disappear along with one of the male pilots after a particularly fruitful mission?" If it was possible, Kara looked even more embarrassed. Lee almost felt bad for her. "It's a healthy reaction to combat. Most pilots have it."

"They don't talk about it," Kara hissed. She brought her hands up to hide her face. "And they definitely don't make it sound so dirty." A muffled moan came from her hidden lips. "Frak me. I think I'm even more keyed up now."

Her words made Lee stiffen as thoughts he had no right to be thinking popped into his head. That had been happening more often lately.

Kara dropped her hands away from her face to glare at him. "So, please tell me, mister know-it-all. What the frak should I do about _that_?"

Lee had to bite back a laugh as her eyes unknowingly glanced down at his still bandaged hands. His fingers were almost healed, but they weren't quite up to the task that Kara probably had in mind. He was sure of that. It wasn't like thoughts of her weren't consuming him, too. Something had broken down their walls the night she had been attacked, and there was no glue in the Fleet that could patch that rip.

A small cough tore Lee from his thoughts. He looked up to see Kara was still waiting for an answer. Now _that _was starting to make _him _excited. She really wanted him to tell her what she should do about her little problem. A wicked idea came to his mind, and Lee took his hand away from where it had rested supportively on her shoulder. She looked sad for a moment before her face dissolved in a look of curiosity.

It was official. This was absolutely the most keyed up he had ever seen her.

"Lee?" she asked hesitantly. He had been staring at her for over a minute now without moving.

Lee took one last moment to remind himself of how stupid this was and the million and a half reasons he shouldn't be doing it. Then, he leaned over to whisper softly in her ear. "My fingers might still be healing, but that doesn't make me want you less. It just forces me to think outside the box."

Kara's eyes went wide as she realized what he was trying to say. The look of pure desire that came next made something snap inside of him, and he shoved all the papers off the cot in one big swoop. Before she could regain her wits, he had her pressed down against the cool mesh, his body almost possessive in the way it was covering hers. "Let me help you get rid of the buzz," he growled in her ear.

"That's not helping," she hissed as his lips brushed against the sensitive skin on her neck. He was making her even more tense, and she did not look forward to having to come up with a way to get rid of her problem while stuck in a brig cell with Lee. Things were a lot easier when she lived in a place that had bunks with handy little curtains.

"Give me time," Lee whispered, his breath cool against her skin. "I'll make it all better."

Kara was about to protest again when Lee pressed his body down against hers on the cot. Her eyes flared with desire, and she suddenly realized Lee was talking about a few little kisses here. There was no worry about how she was going to finish herself off. "Frak," she murmured. Feeling the weight of his body on hers was more than she could take. She was already so on edge that she had no hope of keeping control of herself. "I'm not going to be noble about this, Lee."

"I don't want you to protest," he insisted. Couldn't she see he wasn't trying to play some stupid game with her? She didn't have to push him away because there was no way in hell he was going to stop.

His hands slid up under her tanks, and even with his finger still tightly wrapped, Kara responded to his touch. Her body bucked against his, and for the hundredth time, Lee wished he could do this properly.

Kara moaned as Lee's hand stroked a hesitant path around one breast and then the other. He was still afraid she was going to reject it. It was ridiculous how emotionally fraked up their relationship had grown to be.

That didn't make it any less delicious, though. His lips were now following the same teasing pattern as his hands, caressing her through the material, and she knew that he hadn't been lying. He was going to slowly help her with her little problem, and it was going to be pure agony.

"I hate you," Kara sighed, resting her hands on his back. She gripped his shirt roughly and pulled it over his head. His groan from the break in contact made her smile. The tension wasn't as one sided as he would like her to believe. It also gave her a sort of satisfaction. Yes, she was being weak, letting herself give in to the desire, but he wasn't being all that strong either. "You're not going to be undressing yourself anytime soon," she reminded him as she tried to pull him back in close to her.

Lee sat back on his heels, and Kara saw a look of disappointment fall across his face. It was a look that she had imagined in her mind a thousand times. She hated how no matter what Lee did or said, there was always that small nagging doubt that he would wake up to realize what a mistake he was making. Propping herself up on her elbows, she did her best to ignore her doubts. "What's wrong?"

"It's embarrassing," he laughed. Kara watched him run a hand through hair and tried to control the burst of lust that ran through her body from head to toe. He looked like a fraking god, sitting there in only his sweats.

Lee smile at her and shrugged. "I don't think I can untie your sweats."

Kara looked down in surprise. Sure enough, she had chosen the only fraking pair she had with a drawstring waist. Her determination kicked in immediately. "Frak that," she hissed. Her fingers practically ripped the knot out, and she was about to push them down when she felt Lee's hands resting on hers.

"Two things, Kara." His eyes locked with hers. "This is not going to frantic, no matter how desperate you get. So just relax."

Her body shivered in anticipation, and she could feel that slight burn inside her increasing. "What's the second thing?" she asked.

"I don't need your help anymore." Kara's eyes went wide as the look of mischief he was sending her registered. He leaned in to slowly pull the sweats over her hips and down until they fell to the floor. "Still feel keyed-up?" he whispered.

Kara bit her lip and nodded. She wasn't sure if she could even form words right now. The ache was so great.

"Good."

Lee's attention fell to her bare legs, and she held back a moan as his hands trailed down her body finally resting on her feet. He began to gently rub them in a soothing rhythm, and Kara let her eyes fall shut. It had been so long since someone had touched her with no other purpose except to make her happy. As the tension filtered from her body, she tried to focus on thanking the gods for keeping the pilots from breaking either of Lee's thumbs so he could do this, but she was just too caught up to concentrate at the moment.

"It amazes me how you can make this crappy little cell feel like a home," she whispered, resting her head back on the pillow.

"Foot rubs can do that," Lee chuckled. She felt him gently lower her feet to the cot before shifting his focus elsewhere. His lips brushed across her knee, and she could feel her body tense up. "When did this happen?"

Kara opened her eyes and saw he was kissing his way around a rather nasty looking bruise on her right knee. "I got a little banged up the other day fixing my Viper."

"A little banged up? Kara, you know you have to watch this knee."

Normally, this was the moment where they started arguing. She hated his constant reminders of how life had deemed her a broken woman. It was hard enough imagining how unworthy she was without actually hearing him point out her shortcomings. This time was different somehow. The sight of his lips paying such close attention to her knee made her lose the will to fight.

That was happening a lot more lately.

"Kara?" Lee whispered against her skin.

"Hmmm?" she said, running her hand idly through his hair. She couldn't get over the fact that Lee knew exactly how to be perfect for her. It was unreal.

"Pull your tanks off for me."

Her eyes flew open and locked with his. The flare of desire coursed through her body so quickly that she didn't know what hit her. All she knew was her hand tightened in his hair and pulled him up to her lips. It was a rough move, but if he kept surprising her like that, he wouldn't be expecting gentle. Plus, she had never been one for subtleness. Her tongue danced with his in a quick promise of things to come before Kara pushed him back just long enough to pull her shirt off like he asked.

Lee didn't waste time. His tongue raked across her body before pulling her breast into his mouth. Kara felt her head roll back. This was exactly the release she had been begging for. Teeth nipped at her, and a mixture of pleasure and pain raged through her body. She had always imagined that would be Lee's style. A man couldn't look the way he did without bringing both unbridled passion and heartfelt desire to the bed.

His hand rubbed against the thin material of her underwear as he moved his lips to her ear. "We don't have much time," he whispered.

Kara bit her lip and nodded. He was right. It wasn't like they were in their own private quarters. They were locked up in the brig. Granted, no one really bothered to come down this far in the prison level, but she was still the CAG. People needed her at the most inconvenient times.

Lee inched his lips over to brush against her forehead. "You're thinking too much."

Lee's words made her smirk, but she still couldn't turn her thoughts off. The prospect of being caught had always excited her, but somehow with Lee, it didn't even matter. She was already plenty excited just knowing the things he could easily do to her. It didn't matter if they were in the middle of a busy corridor or locked up in private quarters.

His lips teased their way around the nape of her neck, and Kara froze as she felt his hands slowly lower her underwear off her body. She kicked her legs up to help speed up the process and smirked when Lee pulled her in close again. It seemed being apart was agony for the both of them.

"You're wearing too many clothes," Kara pointed out as Lee pushed her back onto the cot.

"This isn't about me," he replied. His mouth returned to her breasts to prove his point, and she felt her breath quicken to the rhythm of his tongue. She was already half-way there, and he had barely touched her. His body settled in between her legs, giving her confirmation that he was just as worked up as she was. She really wished he would get over this ridiculous notion of letting his body heal and just frak her proper.

Kara let out a soft cry of protest as he moved away from the sensitive skin of her breasts and began to work his way past her stomach. He took the time to kiss a small circle around the scars the Cylons gave her before continuing his journey. That was when it finally occurred to Kara what he meant by saying he didn't need his fingers to help her get rid of the buzz.

"Oh gods," she gasped just as his tongue found her center and stroked lightly. She threw her head back and let out a deep moan. He was teasing her with this maddeningly light touch, and she could help but buck against him, silently begging for more.

Lee pulled back to look up at her and smirked. He had always known being this close to Kara would feel this way. She was perfect. With a surge of pride, he realized that she was also his. He wanted nothing more than to give her the world starting with one awe-inspiring release.

His wet tongue brushed over her again and again, going a little deeper each time. Her hands knotted in the bed sheets as she desperately clung to whatever control she could find. "Gods, yes," she hissed, moving her hands to run through his hair. The brushes of his tongue against her grew harder. "You're killing me, Lee."

His touch against her turned feather light again as he pulled away. When she could focus enough to meet his eyes, he gave her a small wink. "Hold on."

She barely had time to ask him what she was supposed to hold on for when he buried his tongue inside her for one, bold thrust. Her hips pitched off the cot as she climaxed instantly, violently. He didn't pull away. Instead, he continued to flick his tongue back and forth as she thrashed against him. "Gods, I wish I could be inside you," he whispered.

"No one is stopping you," she growled. Even now she had to fight the urge to pull his pants down to his knees and just take him without permission. She had already come once, but like most things when it concerned Lee, once was never enough.

"I want to be able to feel you in my hands when I take you for the first time," Lee told her. "So until these fingers heal, you'll just have to content yourself with what I can give."

Kara felt her eyes roll back as his mouth went back to the job at hand. If this was his second best, she couldn't wait to feel the real thing. She ignored the prospect that the excitement from that might actually kill her. She could think of worse ways to go.

Her body rocked against him as he brought his thumb up to join his tongue. She was ripped over the edge immediately, and she blissfully forgot where they were as a scream passed from her lips. Even then, he didn't let up. She moved her hips, clenching as tightly as she could on him, wanting that last big release.

Kara found herself begging him for more. She spread her leg wider to give him more access and shivered when his tongue hit just the right spot. She could feel the pressure building again, but this time was different. It felt like her whole body was going to explode if he kept teasing her like he was. Even though Lee had promised her this blessed release, she still felt the need to take matters into her own hands. She pushed herself hard against his lips and was pleased to feel him slid even deeper inside of her. His mouth went from teasing to all-out consuming. It was no surprise when she felt a moan fall from her lips as her body fought its way through the shaking release. Her vision went completely white, and she lost all ability to think of anything but the amazing man below her.

Lee pulled away to see her struggling to regain control now that the buzz had finally subsided. He had expected to have to work a little harder to kill off such a massive build-up like she had inside of her, but he really hadn't known he would enjoy it that much. It had been a completely one-sided encounter and yet he felt just as satisfied as she did.

Kara's hands reached down to pull him up to her side. "Thanks," she whispered, her head finding its natural place against his chest.

"You needed that pretty damn bad," he pointed out.

She shook her head and sighed. "No, I _wanted _release." Her hand snaked down past the waistband of his bands and grasped him in her palm. "What I needed was for you to be the one to give to me."

After a second's pause, Lee groaned and pulled her hand away from him. "If you keep doing that, this is going to get out of hand."

Kara gave him a small pout, and he couldn't help but remember how she loved to play dirty. "Don't you want things to get out of hand?" she asked.

"You're tired, Kara. I'm tired. As much as neither one of us wants to admit it, our bodies can't handle much more." His hand came up to rest in her hair. "So why don't you get some sleep and we'll see what we feel up to in the morning?" He dropped a small kiss on the top of her head.

Kara's face erupted into a yawn, and she sighed. "Good plan."

Lee pulled her in tight and whispered good night even though he knew she was already fast asleep. It wasn't every day he got to see Kara so relaxed and free of the constant state of worry they lived in. He was glad he could be the one to give her that.

He wondered if maybe he should wake her up to put her clothes back on. After a moment, he figured there was really no need. No one even cared about the two of them anymore. He shifted lightly to pull the blanket up around their joined bodies and smiled when Kara snuggled down against him. He never would have guessed she would be the type of person who yearned for physical contact in that way, but it always seemed like she was snuggling her body against his. He would never dream of complaining.

Lee brushed the hair back from her face and leaned down to give her a small kiss. She really was working too hard.

Kara let out a mumble before turning on her side to face the wall. He groaned as her butt rubbed suggestively up against him. She was torturing him even in her sleep. He started taking a few calming breaths, urging himself to get back in control. It was getting harder to do each day.

He was so focused that he didn't hear the hatch door slid open until it was too late to prepare.

"On your feet, Captain."

Lee's eyes went wide at the sound of his father's voice. He jumped to his feet and saluted more out of habit than intent. Adama shook his head at his son's reaction.

"What are you doing here?" Lee asked. He was desperately trying to clear his head of the sleep he had been about to get.

"There's been some changes in the Fleet while you were here," Adama said gruffly. "By the way, I would like to hear how you ended up in the brig."

Lee took a few steps towards the cell door. His father seemed pleased to see him, which was baffling to say the least. They had been slowly repairing their relationship since he got stranded on Galactica, but they were nowhere near this level of open emotion. Going the safe route, he chose not to ask his father about it. Instead, he'd focus on the obvious. His father wanted to know how he ended up here. "You would actually be proud of me, Dad."

His father's eyes shifted down to Lee's still bandaged hands for a moment. "I was worried about you and Kara, son. You two have been out of contact for weeks."

"There's a good reason for that. Admiral Cain-"

"Is not an issue anymore," Adama interrupted. "I wanted to get that out of the way before we begin. I came on board an hour ago to demand she relinquish her control of the Fleet. I've been receiving some troubling reports for the past few weeks, not to mention I haven't been able to talk to either you or Kara."

"We figured you'd find that odd," Lee agreed.

"I boarded Pegasus with a team of Marines and was told Cain had been in her office since the night before, planning some sort of big op. When I reached her office, I found out I had been lied to. Admiral Cain was shot late last night. It appears the captured Cylon they were housing on the other end of the prison level got loose and exacted her revenge."

Lee nodded, partially relieved. It was better that it happened that way. Things would have been a lot less tidy if his father was forced to stop the Admiral. "Is she all right?"

"She'll survive. I have Doc Cottle looking after her on Galactica right now, but I have no clue what we're going to do with her when she's recovered."

"What about Fisk?"

"Fisk isn't going to be in command of the Pegasus. He shouldn't have been in his position in the first place. I was planning on appointing-" Adama's voice cut off, and Lee followed his father's stare to the cot behind his back. There was an unruly head of blonde hair sticking out from the one end.

"I can explain," Lee started.

"No need," Adama insisted, clearing his throat.

Confusion washed over him. How could his father not want an explanation about this? Lee had thought he would be infuriated at learning his son was sleeping with the woman who should have been his sister-in-law. It was the one aspect of his relationship with Kara that still made him feel guilty. When imagining this moment, he had never expected Adama to just brush it off like nothing. Sure, the conversation promised to be as awkward as humanly possible, but his father had never shied away from anything. "I think I do need to explain. Things were hard on this ship from the second I stepped on."

"Son, you're not the first person to seek refuge in the arms of someone else. I'm the Commander of a Battlestar, but I'm not blind to the lives of the pilots. Once upon a time, I was a pilot myself if you remember."

Lee shook his head. "This is more than just a comfort frak, Dad. I had to go to extremes to keep her safe on this ship, and something happened along the way. It's not just going to stop because you're here."

Adama gave him a funny look and was about to ask what that was supposed to mean when the woman in question stirred from her sleep. Kara sat up on the bed, clinging the covers to her still naked body. Running a hand through her hair, she groaned. "Would you stop talking to yourself and come back to bed, Lee?"

Lee was about to point out they weren't alone when the expression on his father's face finally registered. The Old Man looked floored. "You didn't realize it was Kara," Lee said, his eyes widening. He was in so much fraking trouble.

"I think you were right. There are some things we need to talk about," Adama said after a moment.

Lee was about to agree when he heard Kara's husky whisper. "Commander?" The reality of the situation was finally hitting home for her, too.

Lee watched as the situation sunk in, and his father turned to the Marines by the door. "I want these two out of the cell and back onto Galactica as soon as possible. Captain Adama needs to be taken to sickbay, and Lieutenant Thrace-"

"Should see Doc Cottle, too," Lee interjected. His father sent him a puzzled look. "Trust me, Dad. She needs to see him as much as I do."

"I can speak for myself," Kara said.

Lee turned to see she had gotten up from the cot and was now standing beside him, blanket tucked safely around her body. A sudden fear that she was about to make this whole thing worse took over. "Kara…" he started.

Adama's voice cut in before they could start arguing. "Fine. Take them both to see Cottle. Make sure he sees them… separately."

Lee could hear the doubt in his father's voice. "We do have some self-control, you know. It's not like having us in the same room is going to result in a full-on mission to create grandchildren."

Kara's eyes went wide, and she had to choke back a laugh. She might be late to this fun party of awkwardness, but she was pretty sure Lee shouldn't have said that.

Adama gave his son one more stern look before walking out the hatch.

"We are in so much trouble," Kara whispered, echoing Lee's thoughts from earlier.

Lee sighed and reached over to brush a hair back behind her ear. "I never thought I'd say this, but you're going to want to put some clothes on."

Kara glared at him before walking over to pick up her discarded sweats. A flare of desire swept through Lee as he watched her dress. That was the moment that he knew he was really in trouble. Sighing, he pushed the cell door open. It was never locked anyway.

He looked back over his shoulder one last time at Kara before stepping out in the corridor. If he knew his father, this was going to be the last time he saw her in quite awhile. The Old Man didn't like to be kept out of the loop when it came to the people he loved, and Lee knew that this new development had completely blindsided him.


	9. Chapter 9

Lee looked down at his hands. The bandages had been stripped off when his wounds were examined. Doc Cottle was surprised at how well healed the broken bones were, and he even went as far as to ask Lee how a ship that seemed to hate him would take the time to patch him up so well. Lee refused to tell Cottle how exactly his hands had been fixed. It wasn't his place to explain why Kara was so skilled at fixing his wounds.

Plus, Lee had a feeling Doc Cottle already knew. The man was on top of everything that happened on his ship.

Lee flexed his fingers and smiled. There was a small twinge of pain, but nothing that would keep him from doing whatever he wanted to do. Kara had fixed him. He would fly again.

It had been a full week since they returned to Galactica. He had come in with a bad case of malnutrition, and Cottle insisted upon keeping him chained to his sickbay bed until he started looking better. Lee had a hunch that they were also keeping him away from the other critical patient currently on ship. Cain was still recovering from her multiple bullet wounds, and there were about twenty Marines guarding her. Lee figured that was smart. He prided himself on being rather rational, but he was pretty sure he would lose his temper if he ever came face to face with the Admiral again.

Lee knew that Cain wasn't the only sickbay patient he was being kept away from. For the few days they were both in sickbay, it had seemed Doc Cottle and his staff had a million tests to put him through. He barely had time to breathe, let alone think of bridging the short distance in order to see Kara. Plus, he knew he couldn't risk being caught with her. He needed to explain a few things to his father first.

Then, after that awkward conversation, Lee was going to explain a few things to Kara.

It had taken Lee all week to figure out what he wanted to say to his father and how he could say it without making his Old Man flush him out an airlock. So, in a way, he was happy to be stuck in sickbay. At least there, being kept away from Kara, he could concentrate again.

Regardless of how welcome the alone time was, Lee still found it odd that his father hadn't been to see him. The Commander in William Adama would have wanted to know exactly what had gone down on Pegasus while he was cut out of the loop. Lee knew that his father wouldn't have gone to Kara for an explanation, not after what Lee had already implied. So that meant the Old Man was avoiding both of them at the cost of knowing just how bad a situation he had resolved. That notion scared Lee more than anything. His father was not a man who shrugged away from his duty because of embarrassment and disappointment.

A small cough made him look up, and Lee smirked. He had thought too soon. "I had a feeling you'd be showing up," Lee remarked. "Cottle gave me the all clear a few hours ago, and yet since then, he's somehow kept me on this bed for no real reason."

William Adama gave a small nod. "I wanted to process a few things before I came to see you."

"It took you a week," Lee pointed out.

"There was a lot to process," Adama insisted. He knew this was going to be difficult, but for some reason, he forgot how sad his son's eyes could look. A lot had happened to Lee on Pegasus, and a lot more was going to happen on Galactica. He just wished he could be a father instead of a Commander for once. Then he might be able to put his son at ease.

"I'm sorry you had to find out about Kara and I that way, Dad." Lee took a deep breath and forced himself to look into his father's eyes. "With that said, I won't be apologizing for anything else."

Adama nodded. He hadn't expected his son to make any compromises when it came to Kara Thrace. It seemed like that young woman had had every member of his family wrapped firmly around her finger at one point or another. It was quite an achievement when he thought about how different from him his two sons had always been. "Why don't you start by telling me how two pilots who couldn't be in the same room without arguing suddenly ended up in the same bed?"

Lee could feel his face turn red and did his best to ignore the embarrassment. He was just going to have to make this as impersonal as possible. His father wouldn't understand anything else until he knew the facts. "Something happened to the pilots on Pegasus when the Cylons attacked Scorpia. I don't know what horrors they had to see, but they lost their humanity somehow that day."

"I know. The evidence of that is the Cylon who killed Admiral Cain. Cottle looked her over. There were signs of rape and torture all over her. I know she is a machine and our enemy, but she looks like us."

"The distancing gets harder every day," Lee agreed.

"The Pegasus crew had no problem with it."

Lee nodded. He could talk about how off track Pegasus had become, but that really wasn't the issue at hand. "I was scared for Kara. The pilots treat women like dirt on Pegasus, and she was the only female Viper pilot they had. It started out innocently, Dad. I swear to that. I just wanted to protect her so she could get a little sleep. She was so exhausted."

"Go on," Adama encouraged when his son took a pause.

"I watched over her while she slept under the pretext that we were-" Lee cleared his throat. "Under the pretext that we were sleeping together, sir. It was the only way I could think of."

"So what happened to get you two thrown in the brig?" Adama asked as he took a seat next to his son.

"I got off shift late one night to find that my efforts weren't enough. The pilots and their CAG decided it was time to teach the new girl a lesson." His hands fisted despite the pain. He had a feeling the anger from that day would never go away. "They were trying to rape her, Dad. Something in me just snapped. I couldn't let that happen to Kara." Lee coughed and tried to push his anger back down. Letting his emotions take over wasn't going to make this any easier. "They took Kara to the brig, and when they were done with me, they threw me in with her. She fixed what they had broken in both of us. Cain must have been impressed by her somehow because a few weeks later the Admiral offered to drop the charges."

"So then why was she still in hack?" Adama asked. He was trying to stay as silent as he could through Lee's whole explanation. He knew it was important for his son to make him understand. The only problem was he was still unsure of what Lee wanted him to know. It seemed like he had missed a whole chapter in his son's life while he had been trying to find a way to get his Fleet back.

"She refused to leave without me. Just like I had fought to keep her safe, she couldn't abandon me."

The curtain pulled back abruptly as Doc Cottle stepped in. "Sorry to interrupt this lovely family moment, but the tests on your fingers are back, Captain. They're going to heal just fine, but I can't clear you for the air right now."

"How long?" Lee asked.

"It will take at least a month of rehabilitation to get the sensitivity and quickness back into those bones."

Lee nodded. Staying out of the air for a month would be tough, but at least he knew, in time, he would make it back up there. Kara had given him a great gift.

"What am I supposed to do about the CAG position?" Adama growled, mostly to himself. Doc Cottle's news had put a real obstacle in the path to rebuilding the Fleet. "I need someone strong to whip the pilots on Pegasus back into shape while maintaining order on Galactica."

"That's not my problem, Commander," Cottle pointed out. "My job is to keep those pilots healthy for you. Your son is not ready to be in a cockpit so you're going to have to come up with a Plan B." Cottle gave the Commander a knowing look before finishing up with Lee's chart.

Lee waited until they were alone again before turning to his father. "You have someone capable of doing exactly what you need, sir. Kara can do it."

"You want me to make Starbuck the CAG?"

"At least until I get back on my feet. Like I said before, Cain made her the CAG of Pegasus after she refused to abandon me. For whatever reason, she wanted Kara in that position."

"And Kara just accepted it?"

"She held out until Cain offered her something worth taking." Lee paused. He wasn't sure if he wanted to let his father know exactly what that was right now. He might judge them for putting their attachments to one another before the Fleet. "Kara took on the more practical aspects of the position, and I helped her with the paperwork. It wouldn't be that hard for the two of us to take that on again, especially now that my fingers are healed."

Adama gave him a small nod. He always thought Kara would make a great CAG when she finally stepped up to the responsibility. If Lee thought she could handle it, then he was willing to give her a chance. "That sounds like our best option."

"You have confidence in her, don't you?" Lee asked. All he got in response was a glare. "I know. Stupid question."

They fell into silence, both not sure of the next move to make. They still had to talk about where Lee intended his relationship with Kara to go, but both men knew that now was not the time. The Fleet was walking on thin ice. A little distraction could destroy the whole thing if they let it.

"How did you figure out what was happening on Pegasus?" Lee finally asked.

"I had a rather frantic plea from a Lieutenant onboard the Pegasus. I believe he was Kara's wingman."

Lee's face lit up in surprise. "Travers?"

"I arranged to have a meeting with the young man, and even though he wouldn't tell me why, he displayed a lot of guilt about you and Kara."

"That's because he was a part of what the pilots tried to do to her."

"And to you," Adama reminded him.

Lee shook his head. "It doesn't matter what they did to me."

Adama regarded his son for a moment. Ever since Lee was a little boy, he had always been one to hold a grudge. The fact that he was so willing to forget what was done to him and instead focus on Kara alone spoke volumes. Maybe now _was_ the time to talk about Kara. They might not have another, and Adama really wanted to know where his son's heart was.

"So Logan came to you and told you what happened to us?"

Adama realized with a start that he had been in the middle of his explanation. He usually wasn't this distracted when it came to doing his job. "Lieutenant Travers didn't go into a lot of detail. All he said was the two of you were stuck in the brig for crimes you didn't do, and Admiral Cain seemed hell bent to keep you there. That's why it surprised me to hear Kara was appointed CAG. I can only assume it was part of whatever goal the Admiral was working towards. We'll find out soon enough. I have Lieutenant Gaeta going over the papers from Cain's office as we speak."

"Kara and I both picked up on the same thing as Travers, but we didn't know that much. One of the main reasons she took the position was so she could learn more about what Admiral Cain was planning." Lee shook his head and looked down at his hands. "I shouldn't have encouraged her."

Adama rested his hand on Lee's knee. "Son, you didn't put her in any danger."

"I've seen what Cain was capable of. Kara was in no danger when we were both locked up in the brig."

"You act like it wasn't her decision, Lee. You and I both know that Kara doesn't do anything unless it's what she herself intends to do."

"I know that." Lee brought his hands up to rub the sides of his head. "It's insane how much I want to protect her. There's this innate determination to keep her safe that just keeps nagging at me. It's starting to piss me off."

Adama chuckled. "Frustrating, isn't it?"

"I guess I finally know how you and Zak felt. She's an uncontrollable force of nature, and yet you can't help but want to look after her."

Silence hung in the air between them for a few moments until Adama worked up the courage to ask the one question on his mind. "Do you love her, son?"

Lee paused. He knew his father was expecting him to go into a rant about how much he loved Kara and how guilty that made him feel because of Zak and how it was against military regulations but he didn't care. Lee wished he could tell his father all that, but it would be a lie. The truth was he wasn't sure if he loved Kara in the way that was probably expected. His feelings for her had never been easy to read, but he had a hunch that he was on the way to falling for her pretty fraking hard if he hadn't done it already. There was a lot still unspoken between them, and that wouldn't change until he found time to have a real talk with Kara. Until then, he would do his best to explain to his father what he did know. "I love that when I'm with her, I feel like I belong here, in this life." Lee rubbed his face before looking over at his father. "And that's enough for now."

Adama thought over what his son had said before he responded. "I don't have to tell you on how many levels a relationship with Kara would be wrong for you. I'm sure you've already thought over the reasons time and time again. As a Commander, I know I should keep pointing them out to you until you recognize that you should end whatever it is between the two of you."

"That was pretty easy for you to decide," Lee observed.

Adama let out a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. "Gods. I wish it was that easy." He reached up to take off his glasses. "I love Kara just as much as I love my two boys. I feel like I've raised her since she was a little child even though we've only known each other a handful of years. As a father, Lee, there is no one else I would rather see you with than her." Adama stared down at his hands as he continued, "I've seen the way you are with her. She makes you happy just as often as she makes you mad." He chuckled softly. "She reminds me of your mother in that sense."

"Well, we both know the way that ended," Lee pointed out.

"You are not the same man that I was, Lee. You've gone out of your way to prove that." Adama reached out to rest his hand on the shoulder of his son. "I'm glad of that. I know that I made a lot of mistakes when you boys were young. I don't want to see you get wrapped up in the military and forget the more important parts of life."

Lee looked over at Adama. "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that you can't be with Kara outright, at least not right now." Adama felt his heart ache at the sight of Lee's face. He looked completely crushed at the prospect of having to let Kara go. What was a father to do? Adama let out a sigh as he stepped to his feet. "What I don't know can't hurt you, son. Keep it out of the public eye, and you should be fine."

Lee stared in shock as his father gave him a wink and stood up. "Why don't you go find Kara and let her know she's the new CAG?" Adama didn't wait for his answer. He simply patted Lee's shoulder a few times before stepping outside the curtained-in area.

Lee had no clue what to do with his father's words. Whatever was happening between him and Kara couldn't happen, and yet both he and his father were in agreement that there was no way to stop it. For the thousandth time since the Twelve Colonies had been attacked, Lee found his life in a state of utter confusion. Still, a small played at his lips. There was one thing he was certain of.

His fingers weren't broken anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

Kara had been doing her best to organize the papers on the next class of nuggets for the past hour. In a way, she was actually happy to have this annoyance. It was nice, sitting in the middle of the planning room, while she did the job that she was good at. No more of that fraking CAG nonsense. She hadn't been lying when she said she never wanted that kind of responsibility.

She had about twenty candidates from Pegasus. They were people ingrained in the military who had never thought they could be pilots but had served their colony in other regards. They had promise on the level of the first class of nuggets she had formed on Galactica. She couldn't wait to get her hands on them.

A shiver went down her spine as she remembered the words Admiral Cain had said to her earlier that day. "The people you love have tried to convince you that you're something you're not. You have skills but no ambition to do what has to be done. A girl like you could never fit into their world, and if the Cylons hadn't attacked, your precious little family would have thrown you out onto your ass. You're a reject, Lieutenant. You always have been. I tried to give you a shot, but you didn't even have the courage to take it. Someone like that has no place leading anyone into battle."

Those were the words Admiral Cain had said to her earlier that day. Kara had tried to shrug them off, but it was hard. Cain's little outburst echoed the thoughts that rang through her head every morning. For years, she would wake up and ask herself if today was the day she would get someone killed again, if maybe her mother was right and she really was nothing but trouble.

The thoughts had died down during her time on Pegasus. For some reason, she had forgotten all the things her mother beat into her when she was little. Like everything in her life, that change seemed to filter back to Lee. He would stare at her from across their cell when he thought she wasn't watching, and suddenly Kara felt capable of doing anything. She had no idea how he gave her such confidence without even saying a word.

The buzz had lasted for a full week on Galactica before Kara figured it was about time for her to do something stupid. She woke up that morning and decided it was time to confront Cain. She had to know what the Admiral had been planning before Adama and that lovely little toaster took her down. It was the only way she was going to be able to kill the guilt that Cain had planted in her head. She had to know if everything that happened to Lee was because of her.

It had been a mistake. Cain didn't offer up one thing she wanted. She had just reminded Kara of all the things she had finally let herself forget. Her words were meant to dig at Kara and destroy any sort of progress she made towards healing.

It was a testament to Lee that those words had fizzled to nothing in the past few hours. The sting had been familiar, yet for some reason, she could finally accept that they weren't true. She wished she could thank him, but that would defeat the whole 'avoid him at all costs' tactic she was currently implementing.

Sighing, Kara filled in the last few names and pushed the paper away. She would take it down to CIC later for the Commander's approval. Her face immediately blushed at the thought of William Adama. She had actively avoided him since he found her naked in his son's bed. He probably wanted a better explanation as to what had happened between her and Lee, but she couldn't do that right now. She couldn't even come up with an explanation to _herself_. She had no fraking clue what had happened between them. All she knew is they couldn't go back.

Memories of what the two of them had gone through on Pegasus had been running through her mind for a week now. She hadn't been able to pick out that one defining moment when everything shifted until just that morning. Hours of rationalizing and rethinking her decisions had left her with only one answer as to why she found herself constantly thinking about Lee now that they were back home.

Lee had put his life on the line to protect her. Since the Cylons turned their world upside time, she had spent every waking moment making his life hell. She pointed out what a horrible CAG he was in those first few weeks, and he had the grace not to hold it against her when it turned out he was born for the job. Her own emotional shortcomings constantly made him lose his cool time and time again as he tried to fix her in some way. She abandoned him to a Fleet that didn't really understand him and judged him for being the person he was simply because she had gotten restless. Shame was starting to be a common theme to her feelings for Lee.

All this she had done and he still felt the need to protect her. More than that, he _wanted_ to protect her.

He was the first man Kara had ever met who guarded her with his life. Her father had done all he could before life got too hard and he chose to run. Helo had been her friend and drinking partner since their days at Academy, but she had never once opened up to him. He didn't even know that she needed protecting. Zak Adama had been just the opposite. He healed a part of her that was broken with his determination to make her open up about anything and everything. After Zak's death made her whole world crumble, his father had stepped up to watch over her. William Adama had done all he could to keep her alive the two years she had served under him, but he had never put himself in the danger that Lee did.

Kara had never thought she'd be the type of girl turned on by having a man to watch over her. She had always considered that rather weak. Yet here she was, completely turned on by the fact that Lee had been willing to give up the small amount of life he had struggled to gain over the past few months.

Because of that, _she _felt the need to protect _him_. Case in point, most of the pilots in her squadron on Pegasus had found themselves assigned to the long shifts that stretched past the regulated twelve hour maximum, a restriction long established by the Colonies. She had just fed the XO some of her prizewinning bullshit, and most of the frakers who had hurt Lee ended up pushed to the point of exhaustion. She wasn't even going to get into the embarrassed pilots who ended up in sickbay with injuries they refused to explain. For once being a woman worked to her benefit.

Kara's fingers reached out to roll her pen from one side of the table to the other as her thoughts shifted to "safer" topics. Such as the fact that her body was still tired from the little joy ride Lee took it on seven days earlier. That man had played her body like a musical instrument. She could still remember how blissfully well she had slept for those few moments before their discovery.

She wanted to look forward to more encounters like that, but she had known coming back on Galactica would kill any further possibilities of getting one on one time with Lee. The lead flight instructor could not frak the CAG. They had their jobs to perform and regulations to follow. Their time on Pegasus had been a small fluke, a way for the gods to reward them for the pain they were experiencing.

Kara hated to admit it, but she wouldn't mind being in such a shit hole of a ship if it meant she could still explore whatever was going on between her and Lee. At least that way she wouldn't have to focus on how out of place she felt.

Galactica wasn't how she remembered it. The pilots and crew had been giving her funny looks for days now. It was their subtle way of trying to figure out if Pegasus had changed her. There had been rumors about the pilots' behavior on the other ship, and for whatever reason, people thought she had turned into some type of abomination.

Kara wished like hell she could talk with Lee. He would have a rational explanation as to why people thought she could be such a monster, and he would know a way to make everything better. It wasn't like it would be hard to track Lee down. Cottle put him on immediate bed rest the second they showed up, and he had been in sickbay ever since. She only had to walk down a level and over a couple corridors.

"You're too much of a chicken for that, Thrace," she hissed at herself, flinging the pen across the room.

She had expected her feelings for Lee to die down now that things were back to normal. Their relationship had been entirely physical. It shouldn't be that hard to go a few days without hearing his voice or touching his skin. She had lied to herself at first, told herself she had gotten used to taking care of Lee and that it was hard to let someone else watch over him. There were too many holes in that theory, and it fell apart immediately. She knew Doc Cottle was the best at his job, and yet she still worried for Lee.

Kara pulled the nugget roster back in front of her. She really wasn't sure about the last few candidates. Her eyes rested on the area in the room that was set aside for the CAG to do his paperwork. If only Lee were here, he would give her his opinion on this roster and together they could make the right decision. Then, maybe she could finally help him properly break in that desk.

"Frak. Don't think about that," she scolded. Her mind shifted to the fairly safe memory of all the times she and Lee had done their paperwork side by side. Usually those restlessly boring nights ended in something stupid like a paper clip fight or a verbal disagreement about which pyramid team would have won the Colonial Cup that year if only the Colonies hadn't been devastated.

No matter what changed between them, Kara knew they would still have moments like that. The only problem is there would always be a painful twinge in her heart when she thought of what could have been. She would have to cut out all physical contact with Lee if she was going to keep this thing under control. That meant keeping their encounters to a minimum, at least for the first few months. For some reason, that little detail saddened her more so than the idea of losing a good frak buddy.

Kara sighed and lowered her head into her hands. It had been easier to lie to herself when they were on Pegasus. Back then, she actually believed the things she told herself. Her relationship with Lee was just a fraked up response to the attempts by the pilots and Admiral Cain to break her down. Being back home on Galactica, she knew better. There was something more to it.

Kara stopped beating her head against the desk for a moment and decided there was no way to deny it any longer. She was halfway in love with Lee already, and they had barely even begun.

"And now we're over," Kara whispered into the desk. "No more fun in my life."

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

Kara's head snapped back up as soon as she heard Lee's voice, and she tried to smirk to cover up her surprise. "You know how it goes. Paperwork and I don't get along." She leaned back in her chair and gave him a once over. He was leaning up against the hatchway as if it wasn't that big of a deal. Lee was so fraking infuriating sometimes. "When'd Cottle set you loose?"

"It's been about half an hour. My father sent me down here to see you."

"You've seen the Old Man," she said, nodding her head, "and he sent you down here to see me?"

"He specifically requested it."

"I guess he had some choice words for me, right?"

"Not exactly." Lee pushed off the hatchway and walked over to stand in front of her desk. "I did tell him what we went through. It helped him understand…"

"…that his son was fraking the woman he considers his daughter."

"Nice, Kara," Lee said, rolling his eyes. "I can always count on you to find the roughest way to say something."

Kara glared at him before turning her attention back to the papers on the desk. Lee leaned down to take a look. "New class of nuggets?"

"I figured I should just jump right back into the thick of things. That way it won't feel so odd being back on Galactica. It's kind of strange having lived in such an extreme environment and then being thrust back into normalcy. Plus, everyone seems to want to know what it was like, and as you know, I'd rather not talk about it right now. I just want to start training nuggets. It's something I can immerse myself in so I don't have to focus on the things that are going to change. I'm not saying there's much that will change, but you know there are regulations and all. I've never been one for following regs, but I can see where you were always coming from now. Things are a lot clearer." Kara groaned and slammed the papers down onto the table with a bang. She hated when she rambled, but having Lee standing only inches away was disrupting her focus. "Why are you here, Lee?" she blurted out after a moment.

He looked shell shock for a moment at her sudden outburst but quickly pulled himself together. "Well, two reasons really. One, my father wanted me to relay some news. It seems Admiral Cain is going to be out of commission for a while so personnel is stretched thin in the Fleet. The Old Man's had to get creative in filming up the hole left behind by the incident with Cain and our transfer back to Galactica."

"Why should I care? I'm just going to settle back into training the nuggets while you take care of the Air Group.

"There's a problem. According to Cottle, it's going to be about a month before I can take on the CAG position. On my recommendation, my father's appointed you to be my temporary replacement."

Kara's mouth dropped open. "You fraking bastard! You know I hated being the CAG."

"Sure, you hated it, but you were still pretty damn good at it." Lee shrugged. "Plus, there's no one else. Don't worry, Kara. I'll be here to help you."

"But I have this new class of nuggets all ready to go! What the frak am I supposed to do now?"

"It's not like I'm dead. For one month, I'll be doing the paperwork and planning for both the CAG and the flight instructor positions. You'll just have to help me with a little bit of the lecturing. The nuggets will only be in the first stages of training for most of your time as CAG. You should be able to bounce between keeping the Air Group running to helping with the nugget flight runs. Trust me, Kara. It'll work."

"You put a lot of thought into it."

"Well, it's a bit of a hike down here," Lee said, glancing around the room. "Who ever had the idea to put this place so far away from most of the other areas?"

Kara watched him for a moment before clearing her throat. "Fine. I'll accept being the _temporary_ CAG. Now what was your other reason for interrupting me?"

"I wanted to show you something," Lee said. He grabbed Kara's wrist and pulled her to her feet. As soon as it was clear she was too startled to fight him, he closed the last bit of distance between them, slid his fingers into the loose hairs at the back of her head to keep her from pulling away, and claimed her mouth with his own. Kara had barely a second to realize she should be fighting him before all thoughts were thrown out of her head.

Lee smiled against her lips when Kara's hands automatically gripped his tanks. He used the shift in momentum to push her back onto the desk just as her lips grew suddenly soft and parted to give him more access. He wasted no time slipping his tongue inside with a hot, searing stroke that stated his intentions in a way she couldn't misinterpret. He was throwing down a claim on her, body and soul, for as long as she would let him.

His fingers danced along the edge of her tank for a moment before he dared to slip inside. He cupped her breast in the palm of his hand, and he could feel himself already beginning to lose control. This was what he had been yearning for the past two months. Skin on skin contact with Kara was his idea of heaven.

Lee felt her pulse quicken as he kissed his way down to the curve of her neck. She let out a small moan when he bit down lightly on the sensitive skin. His fingertips found their way to tease lightly over her nipple, soothing away the pain with pure distraction. She responded immediately, bucking against his touch for a moment before groaning and pushing him away. Kara pulled herself to her feet and shook her head. "This is a mistake, Lee. We should not be doing this."

"I like to think following your heart is never a mistake."

Lee had the pleasure of watching her resolve melt for a second before her defiance came rearing back up. "We cannot do this. You're the CAG.'

"No, you're the CAG," he corrected.

"Fine. _I'm_ the CAG. There are military regulations against this type of thing. Besides, I don't think your father would appreciate his son taking advantage of me on top of a briefing desk."

Lee stood up from the desk and took a step towards her. Kara immediately backed up. She wasn't sure why, but she knew she had to keep Lee away from her if she was ever going to figure out which way was up again. In retrospect, she should have known better. Everything Lee did had a purpose behind it.

Within seconds, Lee had maneuvered her exactly where he wanted. Kara was pinned against the wall with no way out. "You know we don't have to do this on a desk. You pick the place."

Her eyes rolled back as he dipped his mouth to nibble on her ear. She could feel him playing at the end of her tank again. "Your fingers are all healed up," she said, stating the obvious.

"And now that you've noticed that key detail, I suggest you pick a place for this to happen if you don't want to have a public audience."

Visions of Lee taking her forcefully on a table they had planned so many missions around made her go weak in the knees. She would never make it through another briefing again without seeing that vivid image. "You wouldn't."

"If it was what you wanted, I would," he growled.

Kara moved her hand up to her mouth to hide the tremor of lust that suddenly came over her. She felt him shift to pull her hand away, and before she knew what was happening, his mouth had opened to softly take in one of her fingers. She stared in awe as he sucked lightly on the tip before moving her hand deeper in. Kara could feel the gentle pressure of his tongue, and a million inappropriate thoughts slammed into her. Taking her hand back, she pushed him away. "Lee, we can't be doing this."

"Fine. If you refuse to pick a spot, I will. Senior officers' quarters. Between you and I, I think we have enough rank to pull to make everyone magically disappear."

She was about to protest again, but Lee had grasped her wrist and was already dragging her out of the briefing room at high speed. "Slow down," she hissed.

Lee turned to look at her over his shoulder. "I have been sleeping next to you for ten weeks now. Five of those were spent with broken hands that kept me from touching you. My hands are healed. We are doing this."

Kara wished she could say Lee's sudden aggressiveness was pissing her off, but the flare of desire in the pit of her stomach wouldn't let her lie. "This is wrong on so many levels," she muttered as Lee pulled her past a group of deckhands. She knew there was probably some damage control in her future for this one, but the prospect of having Lee so keyed up for her was holding the worry back, at least for right now. This was beyond insane.

Lee pushed the hatch door to the bunkroom open and smiled at the handful of pilots inside. "Everyone out. I just got out of sickbay and I think I deserve a few hours undisturbed rest." He turned to see Kara hanging back at the edge of the hatchway, looking inherently sexy and completely guilty at the same time. He knew that pilots would probably pick up on the fact that he had just asked for some time alone with his lead pilot and temporary CAG, but right now he didn't care. His hormones were in control of the show.

Most of the pilots filtered out without a word, but Helo took his time gathering up the things off his bunk. Kara took the moment to slip over to Lee's side, and he could see right away there was something important on her mind. "What about the Old Man? He's going to get word of this, and there's no way he's going to like it."

"For starters, my father has no right to be the deciding voice in my love life." Lee's eyes trailed to look over at where Helo was still struggling to pick up the deck of triad cards he had been playing with. If he didn't know better, he'd think the Raptor pilot was taking a long time on purpose. "I make my own choices, Kara, but I'll admit it's nice to have him on my side."

"What do you mean?"

"He told me that if we kept this private, he wouldn't say anything."

Kara looked at him in disbelief. "What the hell did you say to him, Lee?"

"I told him how this thing between you and I started." Lee paused. He wasn't sure if he should be telling her all this right now. Kara tended to scare rather easily, and he really didn't want to frak up this lapse in rationality they were about to give in to. Thinking it better to not say any more unless she asked, Lee went back to staring at the lone pilot left in the bunkroom.

Lee could feel his anger bubbling up as he realized what Helo was doing. All of the pilots knew what they were bearing witness to the moment he had burst into the bunkroom. Helo probably knew the best what a mess Kara was about to get herself into, and he was doing the only thing he could as a true friend even if Kara didn't realize it. Because hormones be damned, Helo was doing his best to give his old friend a way out of it if she wanted it. It would be a admirable trait if it didn't piss Lee off so much. Couldn't he see that Kara wasn't running away? At least not yet, Lee corrected. He figured he had a good sixty seconds to sweep her off her feet. Otherwise, she was going to bolt on him. Therefore, the quicker he got Helo out, the easier this would be.

"I doubt the story of our vacation on Pegasus convinced the Old Man to let us break regs," Kara pointed out, bringing Lee's thoughts back to his father. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't let this subject drop. William Adama meant more to her than almost every other person in her life. She couldn't give in to this knowing she would be hurting him. "Your father might have a soft spot for me, but I don't think that's enough."

Her hand slipped into his without a word, and he felt his last reserve melt away. She was trying to do the right thing for the first time in her life, and he knew how much it must hurt. "No, it didn't convince him. So I just explained that I had no intention of giving up how you made me feel." Lee smirked. "He came around."

Kara wasn't surprised to feel a sudden urge to slam Lee up against the wall and take him right then and there. He had actually stood up to his father. Their relationship was on pins and needles still, and as much as he denied it, Kara knew that a reconciliation with his father would mean the world to Lee. Yet he had risked that in order to fight to keep whatever was between them. Lee had given her something she had never wanted, never expected, but something she was insanely pleased with all the same. He had actually made her feel worthy of him.

Her eyes fell on Helo as he finally reached the hatch. He really was a great friend. "Karl?" she called out, making him turn around. "You missed me, didn't you?"

"What do you want?" he said, narrowing his eyes.

"I think our dear Captain deserves at least a solid six hours of rest. The next shift change sounds about right, doesn't it?"

Helo gave her a smirk. "I can keep their eyes away, but I can't guarantee anything about their ears." With one last wink, he was out the door.

Lee looked at her in confusion. Maybe she was knew more what was going on around them than he gave her credit for.

Kara smiled at him for a moment and then shrugged. "Helo knows me too well. There was no way I could get him to believe you and I aren't fraking after you marched in here and demanded privacy." She walked over to flip the lock on the hatch before sliding back to wrap her arms around his neck. "Besides, now we have someone to help us cover whenever we need a little alone time."

He didn't know when, but something had shifted in Kara. She wasn't fighting him anymore. He found it terrifying in a sort of primal, satisfying way. "So I take it we're going to need someone to cover for us quite often?"

"Oh yeah," she whispered, her hands moving under his tanks. His muscles moved and flexed underneath her touch, and dampening her bottom lip with her tongue, she dared herself to go lower. In all her encounters with Lee, she had never really had the time to enjoy what was in front of her. Right now, she wanted to do just that.

Kara shifted to the side, leaning more fully into Lee, and her knee slipped snuggly between his thighs. Her hand was still continuing its journey lower as she leaned in to lightly tease the curve of his neck. She took a deep breath, intoxicated by the sheer masculinity of his scent, and sighed. "Gods, Lee. This is such a stupid thing for us to be doing," she whispered.

Lee was about to tell her he didn't care when her hand finally pushed past the barrier of his sweats. Kara's hand curled around him, caressing him from base to tip, and he groaned roughly into her mouth. She had done this type of thing, teased and touched, with over a dozen men over the years. It was her secret weapon, knowing where and how they liked to be touched, knowing exactly what to do to get what she wanted. The goal had often varied from a quick, frantic release for herself to something as simple as an hour or two of not remembering where she had gone wrong. It frightened her to realize all of her normal, selfish intentions didn't apply to what she was doing. Her only goal in being with Lee had absolutely nothing to do with herself. All she wanted, all she would _ever_ want from now on, was to see him smile.

She met Lee's eyes as her hand continued to stroke him. The normally crystal blues were amazingly dark, full of desire. Those eyes scared her almost as much as knowing how different this was going to be than all the other encounters.

"I want to return that gift you gave me on Pegasus," she growled, pulling away from him. Lee's eyes widened with desire as he understood what she was offering. Kara smirked. This was going to be as much fun for her as it would be for him, and damned if she wouldn't see him smiling down at her by the end.

Dropping to her knees, she pulled his sweats down off his body as slowly as she could. All she wanted to do right now was push him down into a bunk and ride him like there was no tomorrow, but she knew she had to have more control than that. For all she knew, this was it. This was the one and only time they would both be weak enough to give into the urge. She had to make it count.

Kara ran her hand along the length of him. Her body shivered when she once again realized that this was nothing like any of the encounters she had in the past. She had never felt this open before, so willing to put herself on the line for someone else. If his hand wasn't gripping her shoulder so hard, she would be completely terrified. Lee was supporting her like he had always done, silently, a pillar of strength for her to lean on even when she was willing to take the fall.

When the anticipation got to be too much for even her, she teased him with a soft, swirling lap of her tongue around his swollen head, and Lee felt the memory of this moment imprint itself upon him permanently. He had never considered this type of thing a gift. It had always been something mechanical, just another checkpoint on the road to release. It was crazy, but half the time he felt like his partner was doing it only as a means to convince him to stay for the rest of the ride. Like everything else he had ever believed, it was a different case with Kara. He wasn't blind. He knew she had done this type of thing before, but he also knew it had always been less of a desire, more of an obligation. As his body tensed against her surprisingly tender touch, he knew this was much more than just a simple thank you.

Kara felt Lee's grip on her tighten when she opened her mouth and took him in as much as she could. His knees buckled slightly in response, and she found herself wanting to take him in more, to get deeper. This whole thing was frighteningly new to her, and yet she was already taken by how intoxicating it could be.

Incoherent sounds of need caught in his throat, and Lee realized he was already on his way to finishing this little game. Maybe someday when they had more time, he would let her finish this. For now, he had other things in mind. He knew the vulnerability she was offering him just like he knew that Kara was not the type of girl who showed that side of her easily. It was hard to look into her eyes with their reflection of childlike innocence and not want to offer his life for hers. He had never been an insanely protective person. It was only when it came to her that that side came out.

Lee pulled Kara up off the floor and brought her body in close to him. "You are wearing far too many clothes right now," he whispered, doing his best to calm his beating heart.

Kara cocked her eyebrow at him before stepping forward to pull his tanks over his head. Lee was about to suggest that she had misheard him when she ripped her own tanks over her head. His desire to joke caught in his throat along with all of his breath as he took in the sight of her. He had been right to think her a goddess.

His reaction to her, like always, was immediate, and it made Kara's knees go weak. The look on his face flashed predatory as he pulled her up into the air and flipped her into the nearest bunk. The violence of the move made her shiver with the knowledge that it was she who was causing him to lose control. Lee had been a rock since stepping foot on Galactica. He was guarded, wary of life, a picture of the kind of soldier you should strive to be. He was everything Kara was not, everything she could never be. Feeling her back connect roughly with the mattress showed her it was all a façade. When it came to the things in life which made it real, he was identical to her.

His eyes stayed locked on hers for a few minutes as they both struggled to catch their breath. The jolt slowly wore off, and it was all Kara could do to wrap her legs around his waist and hang on for dear life. She had only seen that look in Lee's eyes once in their time together. They had been sharing dinner at the request of Zak. He wanted his brother and his girlfriend to try to come to an understanding before they ripped each others' heads off. They had been arguing that night, like usual, only it was slightly different. She couldn't help but feel like they were leading up to something dangerous, and it alarmed her so deeply that she had stood up from the table. Without a word, she walked out on Lee that night. She went home to Zak, like she was supposed to, like everyone expected her to, and she had probably the best sex of her life. That was something for which she would feel eternally guilty, not because it was so horrible to Zak but because it was so wonderful for her.

Lee had let something loose inside of her that night, and now it seemed she had done the same for him.

He covered her breasts with his hands, whispering something, anything, nothing as he bent his head to scatter warm, moist kisses along her cheek. The kisses dropped down to cover her chin, her neck, her collarbone. He paused at the fullest part of her breasts where he dragged his mouth against the creamy smooth skin. Kara whimpered and thrust her hands into his hair. She was so caught up in the feeling that she didn't notice his fingers sliding her pants down until they were halfway off her body.

Lee looked up at her. "I've wanted to touch you for so long, Kara. It's been killing me."

Kara was about to urge him to get a move on it when she realized that wasn't what she wanted. For the first time in years, she didn't want this to be hard and fast. She wanted to draw this out, really feel what was happening between them. She wanted to give Lee free reign of her body and see just how great this can be.

_There goes that halfway nonsense_, she decided. _I'm all the way in love with you now, Lee. Frak_

Oblivious to Kara's thoughts, Lee continued his slow investigation of her body. His fingers slid around and over her nipples, teasing her so much she couldn't help but buck against him, before they continued down her body until his fingers met heat. She whispered softly to the gods to give her a moment's pause to let herself regain some semblance of control, but it wasn't meant to be. Lee pushed one finger into her slowly at first, and when that wasn't enough to satisfy him, he added another. Her inner muscles clenched around him, and he pressed in a little deeper. The only thought in his head was a glimpse of the future. As his hands worked her to the point of exhaustion, he could only imagine what this would feel like when he was thrusting himself into her.

"Lee…"

The sound of his name falling from her lips made him want to push her body down into the bed and roughly take her without apology. He wanted to hear her screaming out again and again. He wanted to possess her, to mark her in a way that no other man had and prove that this wasn't a mistake.

Instead, he found the voice of reason buried deep within himself. Losing control would only rush whatever was happening between them, and that was exactly what he did not want to do. A smile broke across his face as she moaned his name again, moving her hips slowly against his fingers. She was the only one who could make him want to pray to the gods. Her beauty and her stubborn pride were the only things he could bring himself to be thankful for. Each night, when Kara was whispering her long devotions to Aphrodite and Artemis, he in turn looked to Apollo and Athena to whisper only a few words. He never thanked them for sparing him from death nor did he curse them for taking away his chance to be free. He simply asked them to protect and care for the little bit of family he had left. Lately, he had begun to use Kara's name when asking for their protection.

Knowing that now was not the time to think of religion, Lee inched his lips down to dip his tongue in her navel for a brief moment and then continued his journey downwards, pausing only to give attention to the almost-healed bruises on her hips. He decided that someday he would ask her why their time on Pegasus didn't leave her traumatized. There was something in her past that kept her strong, and as much as he feared knowing what that was, he was dying to know even the darkest parts of what had made her turn out the way she did. He would take anything she offered.

His mouth finally met his fingers at her center, and the slow, searing stroke of his tongue against her flesh caused her to tremble underneath him. He parted his lips, breathing in the damp heat of her flesh, then stroked his soft, wet tongue over one delicious crest. He worked her slowly, with precision, before sucking the rest of her deep inside his mouth.

Soft, mewling sounds of pleasure came from deep in her throat and he increased the pressure and friction of his tongue. This was how it was meant to feel. The relief he had given her on Pegasus had been great, providing the release they both needed, but what was happening now was about so much more than tension and release.

Kara rolled her hips forward to give him better access. She could feel the same emotions she had just gone through only minutes earlier vibrating back at her through his touch. The urge to have Lee deep inside of her as her climax pushed her over the edge consumed her, and she brazenly widened her legs for him.

She could feel herself begin to lose focus, and it was clear if she didn't do something now, she might never get to feel him inside her. Lee had already demonstrated that he would be happy just to be able to touch her. Her fingers twisted tightly in his hair, and she pulled his mouth away from her, forcing herself to push back the sudden cold created by his absence.

With one last, defiant lick that made her whimper, Lee shifted away only to fasten his mouth to her own, kissing her aggressively. His body ground against her, and a desperate hunger rushed through him. "I _have_ to get inside of you," he panted against her ear, echoing her very thoughts. "Please."

Hearing Lee beg her for something they both wanted so bad took her close to climaxing again. Kara opened her legs wider to him and gave a small nod of permission. She moaned softly as he rested himself between her thighs.

Lee tried to grasp the enormity of what she was about to let him do. They had been dancing around this very point for far too long. Each moment with her felt more and more like a dream, the kind that would seem more like a nightmare if he woke up to find none of it was true. He wanted to remain strong. He wanted to show her just how much he needed to protect the parts of herself she was offering up to him. Yet his body was fighting his every move. He knew how much was riding on this very moment and how dangerously close he was to ruining it all. He needed a moment to regroup.

After a moment, Kara noticed Lee's hesitation. She could feel him pulling away, and her eyes flew open in confusion. "Is… is something wrong?"

Kara had seen the look on his face before. It was the way he stared at her when he knew no one was watching, like he wanted her so bad but he knew there were too many things standing in his way. There was disappointment in his eyes, and she feared it was because of her. Only one thing was for certain. If he changed his mind now, she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears. He had fought so hard to get her to this point, and somewhere along the line, she had given in to his determination. When imagining this very moment, she had always expected him to come to his senses as soon as they were done. She never expected the return to reality to come so soon. She hadn't even felt him inside her.

"I… this…" Lee tried to catch his breath and hold his desire down. "This isn't the way I wanted to do this."

Kara pulled herself up. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to do this perfect for you, to give you a reason to let me do it to you all over again, but I can't."

"I understand," Kara whispered, shaking her head. The tears were right on the edge, and she felt one fight its way free. She hated when she was so weak.

His heart broke as he watched Kara try to stay strong. He knew where her thoughts were, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why she insisted upon feeling so unworthy. Gods forgive him, it only made him want her more. "No, you really don't understand."

The look she sent him was so full of hope and fear that it ripped his heart in two. Like always, he was fraking things up between them with his stumbling and stammering. Why couldn't he just say what he wanted to instead of beating around the issue?

Lee stood up. This was a critical moment for him, and he knew there was no way he could explain what was happening inside of him while she was lying underneath him. He needed distance to figure out how to reassure her without scaring her away. His feet met the cool floor, and he knew it had been a mistake. Something shifted inside of him the moment he lost contact with her. He was only a few feet away and still he missed her.

"If I did something wrong…" she started softly.

Those words crushed his last doubt, and he reached down to grasp her wrists. He knew his touch was rough, but he didn't want to be apart from her any longer. So what if he wouldn't find the words? It was through actions that he had always been able to get through to her.

Kara let herself be drawn in close and wondered if this was Lee's answer. Her body rested against his, and the coldness that had seeped into her bones slowly faded away. He let his forehead sit against hers for a moment before speaking, "I want you so much, Kara. It's been killing me the past few weeks, wanting you and yet needing to wait until it felt just right. The only thing that kept me from losing my mind was being able to imagine how perfect I would make this for you. I wanted to make this slow and drag it out for as long as you let me, but I can't control myself. I can't go slow with you."

Kara's face lit up in uncertainty. "What are you trying to say?"

Lee paused a moment, taking in how great it felt to have the length of her body up against his. He had been imagining this exact moment for weeks now. The fit was agonizingly right. There was no way around it. This was going to be a quick, fierce ride. No force in the universe could change that.

"I'm saying wrap your arms around my neck and hold on," he ordered, his voice low and rough.

Kara did as he asked, entwining their bodies on a more intimate level. His hands smoothed over her bottom and gripped the back of her thighs. Their eyes locked as she settled in against him, and she saw the disappointment and fear melt away from his eyes. Her heart made a small leap and then Lee was lifting her, spreading her legs apart and tilting her hips up to him. He pushed into her in one long, relentless thrust that had her gasping for air and him growling deep in his throat. Locking her legs around his waist, he forced his way deeper.

Lee moved inside her, slow at first but quickly gaining speed and force. Her fingers clenched his shoulders as she held on tight, and her head fell back against the lockers behind them. Her expression of rapture was so beautiful, Lee wished he could make this moment last forever. He would give anything to erase the pain from her eyes, and yet he didn't have the restraint to give her what she so desperately deserved. Her hips moving to counter his thrusts was too much, and his body instinctively picked up the pace. She felt so perfect to him, fitting into the hole in his heart he hadn't even known was there. The climax burned through him like wildfire, building inside of him until the pleasure mixed with the pain, and he drove to the hilt one last time before the orgasm slammed into him

When his mind finally came back after what felt like an eternity, he cursed himself for losing control. He had gotten the release he wanted, but he had forgotten to bring her along with him. Like most things in his life, he had fell painfully short of his own expectations. He could only imagine what she was thinking. "Kara," he whispered, still holding her up in his arms. "I'm-"

Kara pushed a finger to his lips and smiled. "That… was fraking good," she purred. Her finger ran its way up and down his lips for a moment before she leaned in to taste him.

Lee let her have control over him for a moment before pulling back. "But you didn't even-"

"Doesn't matter," she interrupted. "You did, and realizing I caused that was probably more satisfying than half the orgasms I've ever had." She laughed as she felt him harden where he was still deep inside of her. "Though I'm taking it you're a perfectionist and won't settle for what just happened?"

Lee shook his head. Kara had always been the type of girl to have an encounter and then immediately want to move on. She didn't stay to talk about it, and she certainly never asked for more. Yet there was a hint of promise and hope underneath her words. The way she was smiling down at him and the gentle pressure of her hands caressing his bruised lips made his heart soar.

Kara moved in to nibble on his bottom lip before sighing. "But I guess you're probably tired by now."

With any other woman, he would have been exhausted by now. With Kara, he figured he had at least a few more rounds left in him. "You are going to be the death of me," Lee explained as he moved their still joined bodies back to her bunk.

Kara gasped when he finally withdrew from her. She had already forgotten what it felt like to be two separate parts, and the sudden reminder made her want to cry. He immediately silenced her with a kiss before the negative thoughts could take over again.

Kara couldn't believe the desire he was still radiating. He had gotten his release only a minute earlier and yet he was still looking at her as if he wanted to devour every inch. She gasped as he shifted to flick his tongue across her breasts, causing her to grip his shoulders and whimper. He wasn't being gentle this time but was raking his way across her, shifting from one breast to the other.

The barriers were still broken between them, and they were like an uncontrollable force. If she didn't watch herself, the fire between them would consume her. She hadn't realized how much trouble she was in until the prospect of letting herself be consumed suddenly seemed like a good idea. His teeth nipped at her, and Kara could feel herself shamelessly rocking against his body. Good gods. She was already craving him inside her again.

"Lee," she said, her voice nothing more than a plea. She was begging for him again, and she didn't even care.

He took a moment to pull back and drink in the sight of her, lying beneath him. She was still on edge from what happened before, and for some reason, he felt the need to torture her a little before responding to what he knew she desperately wanted. Like all things with Kara, he wanted to be on even ground. He inched down the bed, trailing kisses, until his lips met her center again. It fascinated him, the way she responded to his touch. No one had ever made him feel like this before, and it was all he could do not to beg her to let him stay with her forever. Instead, he focused on what she was offering to him now and pushed forever far from his mind. He grazed her cleft with his teeth before swirling his tongue against her. The response was instantaneous. She quivered, her thighs clenched against his arms, and then she was unraveling, screaming as the intense orgasm raged through her.

Lee wasted no time in moving back up her body so they were face-to-face. Holding her gaze as she struggled to catch her breath, he sank into her welcoming heat in one long, smooth thrust. The perfection of being inside her again made him shudder.

Kara's hands were all over his body, urging him to go deeper. Her hips rolled against his, and he had to tighten his jaw to give into the temptation of taking her hard and fast again. "Not this time," he whispered in her ear, giving it a slight nibble. Her lashes fluttered closed on a protesting moan that vibrated against his chest. "Kara." He waited a moment until he felt her grip on him loosen. For once in her life, Kara was not going to have to hang on to happiness as if it was fighting to slip away. He was going to show her he wasn't going anywhere. "Don't shut me out. I want you to be with me this time."

Her eyes opened slowly to gaze up at him through a haze of passion. What he saw staring back at him was a reflection of his own emotions. There was a longing shared between them that squeezed at his very soul. He had always known he would do anything for Kara, but never in his life could he imagine he would love her as much as he did in this very moment.

His body took notice of the change in him, and he began to move slowly, lazily within her. Kara's body embraced him, meeting him stroke for stroke, as she felt all her defensive walls shatter. This was more than just a much needed release. This was a total breakdown of everything she had been forced to push away. He was giving her agony and ecstasy in each thrust as his body slid from just barely touching her to being buried as deep as he could go.

Kara had never felt the tension build so slowly. Her body was betraying her by pushing itself to counter Lee's thrusts. This drawn-out speed was fraking with her head, making her want to scream in frustration. It was almost unbearable, and yet she didn't want it to end. Lee felt so right inside of her. His hands roamed her body freely as he did his best to worship every single inch of her. He would never get over how tightly her body was clamped around him. They moved as one person, both drowning in the sheer heat of their longing.

Before long, they were both tumbling together in a slow burst of warmth. Lee couldn't take his eyes off her as she came against him, and his own orgasm soon took hold. The intensity of the moment stole his breath, made his pounding heart skip a beat, and utterly drained him. He had given his all to this woman beneath him. He just hoped it was enough.

Lee collapsed onto the bed next to her and before he could think to bring her in close, she was already cuddled against him. He felt her lightly kiss his chest and then she had settled her cheek against his body. "I think we still have a few more hours here," Lee pointed out. He wasn't sure what point he was trying to make. He just felt it needed to be said.

"Still?" Kara said before she reached out to shut the curtain on the bunk and then smiled down at him. "You know, this kind of reminds me of our time on Pegasus. It's all cozy."

Lee chuckled lightly and pulled her down to him. He had no clue how he was going to be able to stay apart from her ever again. "You know, we really are going to have to thank Admiral Cain when she gets out of sickbay. I mean, true, you were almost sexually assaulted and I almost sustained permanent injury to my hands, but at least something good came out of it." Kara cocked her eyebrow at him in question. "We know my pilots weren't wrong. We _are _pretty fraking good together in the sheets."

Kara's mouth turned up in a grin. "How the hell are we going to keep this hidden, Lee?"

"There you go again with the jumping straight to the future when there's still the present to enjoy," he scolded.

"I'm trying to be serious. We have been on Galactica for a week now."

"A week in which we have seen neither hide nor hair of each other," he pointed out.

"You cannot tell me your thoughts weren't consumed by me, Lee." Kara paused for a second, wondering if now was the right time to be saying these things. They were on such shaky ground. In the end, she figured she might not have another chance. It was either tell him now while they were still wrapped up in their cocoon away from the outside world, or let the fear and doubt of the world they lived in keep her silent forever. It wasn't much of a choice when she really thought about it. "You were the only thing I could think about since your father found us on Pegasus, Lee. I thought about you. I dreamt about you. I even found myself talking to you even though I knew you weren't there."

Lee's eyebrows raised in surprise. Was she actually admitting she might be just as obsessed with this as he was? Was that even possible? He didn't have time to ask her as she started right back in on analyzing the reality of the situation. "No one cared about us on Pegasus. What you and I had was just a common occurrence, two pilots frustrated with their jobs taking it out on each other behind closed curtains. On Galactica, it's different."

"Exactly," Lee said, sliding his arm behind her body. "On Galactica, the pilots respect us. They know who you and I are. They know what we mean to each other. These men and women know our skill in the cockpit and out. They follow our command not because they've been ordered to but because they believe in our ability to lead. I know these pilots. They couldn't care less how much you and I love each other because in reality, nothing has changed. We are still going to be the ones keeping them alive day to day. Our ability to do that wi-"

Kara's fingertips fell on his lips. "Did you just say something about how much you love me?"

"I think I said how much we love each other."

"There's a difference?"

Lee smiled at her. "There's a big difference. But I don't think we need to get into that right now. We'll wait until we're on more stable ground."

Kara decided that was probably wise. It still terrified her, though. "So you really want to do this? You're willing to sneak around with me for months on end, never really being able to touch me in public, knowing that the only time I can spend with you will be closed up in this bunk?"

"Sounds perfect to me." Lee winced when she frowned at his words. "Just like when we were on Pegasus, I will take you any way I can get you. If that means only being with you a few minutes of every day, I will do everything in my power to make that time memorable."

"You sure know how to make a relationship of quick fraks in equipment closets sound heavenly."

"If that's all I can get, then I'll make it heaven." Lee's hold on her tightened. "There's just one thing. I want you to know that this is not going to be a constant string of quick fraks. It didn't start like that, and I won't let it end like that."

Kara could feel her heart tighten. She had never seen Lee so determined about anything. He wasn't going to let her slip away this time. She figured it was about fraking time. She had been waiting to find someone unwilling to let her get away with her usual bullshit. _I should have figured it would be Lee_, she decided.

She trailed her hand up and down his chest, letting his words sink in completely before letting Lee know where her thoughts were at. "There's only one problem. You see, I happen to like quick fraks in public places."

Lee chuckled. "I wasn't ruling them out. I was just saying we didn't always have to be fraking in empty corridor or a Viper cockpit."

"A Viper cockpit? That's not even possible!"

Lee smirked at her. "I'd be willing to give it a shot if you are."

"Not right now. You've exhausted me for the second time this week. I have no fraking clue how I'm going to deal with being the CAG and having you in my bed."

Lee let her quiet acceptance of what he was offering wash over him. She would be rather vocal about the stresses this relationship would add to her life, but they both knew she really didn't care. They were traveling down this road together, and she couldn't deny that she felt just as much as he did. It was insane, but Lee really did feel the urge thank Admiral Cain for demanding he and Kara transfer to her command regardless of what her reasons were. "I'm glad you let me protect you, Kara," he whispered against her hair before kissing her lightly.

"Me, too," she mumbled, her body snuggling in closer to him. "Now how about you and I get some sleep together since we don't have to be on guard for at least a couple hours?"

"Sounds perfect." Lee shut his eyes and silently thanked all of the gods for what they had given him.

END


End file.
